Environmental exposure to pesticides and the risk of Parkinson's disease in the Netherlands.

Background: Exposure to pesticides has been linked to Parkinson's disease (PD), although associations between specific pesticides and PD have not been well studied. Residents of rural areas can be exposed through environmental drift and volatilization of agricultural pesticides.

Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the association between lifetime environmental exposure to individual pesticides and the risk of PD, in a national case-control study.

Occupational exposure to solvents, metals and welding fumes and risk of Parkinson's disease.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential association between occupational exposure to solvents, metals and/or welding fumes and risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: Data of a hospital based case-control study including 444 PD patients and 876 age and sex matched controls was used. Occupational histories and lifestyle information of cases and controls were collected in a structured telephone interview.

Occupational exposure to pesticides and endotoxin and Parkinson disease in the Netherlands.

Objectives: Previous research has indicated that occupational exposure to pesticides and possibly airborne endotoxin may increase the risk of developing Parkinson disease (PD). We studied the associations of PD with occupational exposure to pesticides, specifically to the functional subclasses insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, and to airborne endotoxin. In addition we evaluated specific pesticides (active ingredients) previously associated with PD.

Extremely low-frequency magnetic field exposure, electrical shocks and risk of Parkinson's disease.

Purpose: Previous studies did not provide strong evidence for an increased Parkinson's disease (PD) risk after exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF), but were limited in their scope to address other exposures related to the use of electricity such as electrical shocks. We evaluated the associations of PD with exposure to ELF-MF, electrical shocks and having worked in "electrical occupations."

Methods: We conducted a hospital-based case-control study, including 444 PD patients and 876 age- and sex-matched controls.

A case-control study of the protective effect of alcohol, coffee, and cigarette consumption on Parkinson disease risk: time-since-cessation modifies the effect of tobacco smoking.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible reduced risk of Parkinson Disease (PD) due to coffee, alcohol, and/or cigarette consumption. In addition, we explored the potential effect modification by intensity, duration and time-since-cessation of smoking on the association between cumulative pack-years of cigarette smoking (total smoking) and PD risk. Data of a hospital based case-control study was used including 444 PD patients, diagnosed between 2006 and 2011, and 876 matched controls from 5 hospitals in the Netherlands.

Autosomal dominant restless legs syndrome maps to chromosome 20p13 (RLS-5) in a Dutch kindred.

Six chromosomal loci have been mapped for restless legs syndrome (RLS) through family-based linkage analysis (RLS-1 to RLS-6), but confirmation has met with limited success, and causative mutations have not yet been identified. We ascertained a large multigenerational Dutch family with RLS of early onset (average 18 years-old). The clinical study included a follow-up of 2 years.

Herpes simplex virus type-1 encephalitis and occipital ischemic stroke.

Childhood ischemic stroke is a rare complication of herpes simplex virus type-1 encephalitis. We describe a previously healthy 3-year-old girl who presented with bilateral occipital ischemic stroke, attributable to herpes simplex virus type-1 encephalitis, highlighting the importance of viral diagnostics in cerebrospinal fluid.