一項研究表明帕金森病患病風險會因殺蟲劑和頭部損傷而增加。研究表明帕金森病的發病風險會根據暴露水平的增加而增加。 

兩種潛在的因子的程度因不同病人而不同。職業和環境醫學雜志的研究作者說，“頭部損傷可由身體接觸類運動造成，比如，拳擊。這種損傷是可以避免的。而殺蟲劑可能會對頭部造成類似的損傷。然而我們正在研究其他方面的因素，因此未來可確定更多的潛在危險因子。” 

暴露于低水平殺蟲劑的病人患帕金森病的可能性是陰性對照組的1.13倍。而那些暴露于高水平殺蟲劑的病人患病的可能是陰性對照的1.41倍。 

那些曾有頭部敲擊后失去知覺經歷的人們與沒有此經歷的對照組相比，為后者的1.35倍，而那些經常失去知覺的人患病機率是對照組的2.53倍。 

本次歐洲委任的研究是目前最大規模的案例-控制的帕金森病或退行性帕金森綜合癥遺傳、環境與職業方面危險因子的研究。研究涉及蘇格蘭、意大利、瑞典、羅馬尼亞及馬爾塔的959例帕金森相關疾病案例（其中767例是帕金森病）和1989例對照。病例的確定按照英國帕金森病診斷標準來執行。那些藥物誘導或癡呆的病人已經被排除。 

此項研究的調查表包括調查研究對象整個生命周期職業和生活中溶劑、殺蟲劑、鐵、銅和錳的暴露史等。整個研究結果對年齡、性別、國籍、吸煙史等因素作了調整。

A study has shown that the risk of Parkinson´s disease increases with pesticide exposure and traumatic head injury. 

And the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease increases according to the level of exposure, the results showed. The two risk factors are potentially modifiable, the authors of the study, published online ahead of print in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, say. Head trauma resulting from contact sports such as boxing can be avoided and further research could identify more specifically which pesticides are associated with this effect, so that these agents can be substituted. 

People who had been exposed to low levels of pesticides were found to be 1.13 times as likely to have Parkinson’s disease compared with those who had never been exposed. Those who had been exposed to high levels of pesticides were 1.41 times as likely to be affected. 

Parkinson’s disease occurred 1.35 times more frequently in people who had been knocked unconscious once compared with those who had never been knocked out, and arose 2.53 times more frequently in those who had been knocked out more frequently. 

The European Commission funded study is one of the largest case-control studies to date of genetic, environmental and occupational risk factors for Parkinson’s disease or other degenerative parkinsonian syndromes. It involved 959 prevalent cases of parkinsonism (767 with Parkinson’s disease) and 1989 controls recruited in Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Romania and Malta. Cases were defined using the UK Parkinson’s Disease Society Brain Bank criteria. Patients with drug-induced or vascular parkinsonism or dementia were excluded. 

Subjects completed a questionnaire regarding their lifetime occupational and recreational exposure to solvents, pesticides, iron, copper and manganese. Their lifetime exposure was then estimated blind to disease status and the results were adjusted, as appropriate, for age, sex, country of residence, tobacco use, ever having been knocked unconscious and family history of Parkinson’s disease.