Schwartz Gary G, Williamson Mark R
Department of Population Health, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58203, USA.
Brain Sci. 2021 Jun 12;11(6):779. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11060779.
Although the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) is unknown, potentially informative clues lie in its geographic distribution. PD prevalence rates within the U.S. are significantly higher in the Midwest and Northeast, a pattern that resembles the geographic distribution of acid precipitation ("acid rain"). Using linear and multivariable regression, we examined state-wide data on PD prevalence in relation to environmental factors including total precipitation, the acidity of precipitation, the use of well water, and industrial releases of sulfuric acid. In multivariate analyses, age-, race-, and gender-adjusted prevalence rates for PD were inversely correlated with well water use and positively correlated with industrial releases of sulfuric acid and with the quantity of acid precipitation ( < 0.0001). To our knowledge, this is the first report of an association between PD and acid rain. Because acid rain is known to leach metals from soils and pipes into drinking water, acid rain's association with PD prevalence adds support for a role for metals in the etiology of PD.
尽管帕金森病（PD）的病因尚不清楚，但潜在的有用线索存在于其地理分布之中。在美国，中西部和东北部的PD患病率显著更高，这种模式类似于酸性降水（“酸雨”）的地理分布。我们使用线性和多变量回归分析了全州范围内与环境因素相关的PD患病率数据，这些环境因素包括总降水量、降水酸度、井水使用情况以及硫酸的工业排放量。在多变量分析中，经年龄、种族和性别调整后的PD患病率与井水使用呈负相关，与硫酸的工业排放量以及酸性降水的量呈正相关（<0.0001）。据我们所知，这是关于PD与酸雨之间关联的首次报告。由于已知酸雨会将土壤和管道中的金属沥滤到饮用水中，酸雨与PD患病率之间的关联为金属在PD病因学中的作用提供了支持。
