Michael J. Fox and the Parkinson’s cluster
Here is another unusual disease cluster. Michael J. Fox most likely contracted Parkinson’s disease in the late 1970s while working on a TV series in his native Canada. Intriguingly, 4 other members of the crew also contracted Parkinson’s.
According to this NY Times article, Parkinson’s ’Clusters’ Getting a Closer Look:
The four people worked together from 1976 to 1980, when it is possible that the disease began in all of them.
Probability about 1 in 1,000
After studying the cluster:
Dr. Donald Calne, director of the neurodegenerative disorders center at the University of British Columbia, estimates that the odds of the four cases occurring at the same time in such a small group of people are less than 1 in 1,000.
Some of the reasoning behind this conclusion:
Typically, Parkinson’s disease afflicts one in 300 people. In people as young as Michael J. Fox, 30 when the disease was diagnosed in 1991, the illness is much rarer. Fewer than 5 percent of Parkinson’s patients develop symptoms before age 50, said Dr. Caroline Tanner of the Parkinson’s Institute. The Vancouver cluster includes Mr. Fox and a woman who learned she had Parkinson’s at age 38.
[...] Parkinson’s progresses gradually, taking 5 to 10 years from the time it starts to the appearance of the first symptoms — usually, rigidity in an arm or leg or tremor in a hand.
A Possible Cause
There is speculation that some environmental agent was the cause of this cluster. One possibility is a drug, since:
There are three classes of drugs that are likely to produce Parkinsonism:
1. Dopamine receptor blocking agents, including the phenothiazines (such as Compazine, Stelazine, and Thorazine), butyrophenones (such as Haldol), and metoclopramide (Reglan).
2. Dopamine-depleting agents, including reserpine (rarely used) and tetrabenazine (used to control dyskinesia)
3. Drugs that act by various known and unknown mechanisms, including the atypical antipsychotic drugs such as Resperidal, Orap, and Zyprexa). (Source)
There have been cases of drug addicts who have taken a badly ’cooked’ dose and have had Parkinson’s-like symptoms.
Other environmental factors in Parkinson’s include weedkillers and pesticides (from MSNBC, no longer available):
One study shows that farm workers who used the common weedkiller Paraquat had two to three times the normal risk of Parkinson’s, a degenerative brain disease that eventually paralyzes patients.
Connection with the ABC Breast Cancer Cluster
This story reminds me of the breast cancer cluster in the ABC television studios in Brisbane Australia, which I wrote about recently. In that case, the probability of the cluster was estimated to be 1 in a million, but I have not been able to find out how that probability was reached.
Higher Risk of Parkison’s
Something that worries me is that those at higher risk of contracting Parkinson’s Disease are teachers (that’s me) and medical workers. Other high risk occupations include farm workers, loggers and miners.
Footnote
Curiously, in one trial, Gambling and sex addiction caused by Parkinson’s drug, we read:
Apparently after taking the drugs, called dopamine agonists, some patients have developed gambling habits so severe, that some of them lost more than £100,000 in six months,while others developed behavioural problems, including compulsive eating, increased alcohol consumption, and an insatiable appetite for sex.
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13 Sep 2007 at 1:32 pm Link to this comment
If you can read Chinese: 「物以類èšã€(Those of the same group cluster)?
15 Sep 2007 at 6:11 pm Link to this comment
Here (unlike the ABC case), the researcher, Dr Calne, does correctly describe the probability that he is talking about, and if I was in such a cluster or responsible for public safety in the region where it occurred I would certainly want to check for possible causes.
But the world does include several thousand groups of similar size (even including equally famous individuals), and there are also many rare diseases whose increase would attract attention, so, even given the one-in-a-thousand probability, I would not be surprised to hear of several stories like this even if there were no non-chance causes involved.
8 Oct 2007 at 7:33 am Link to this comment
Thanks for your comment, Alan.
I’m still thinking about that gambling addiction linked to dopamine agonists. Is it possible that all addictions involve an environmental chemical imbalance?
10 Jan 2008 at 3:52 am Link to this comment
Has there been research of previous land-use of the studios in Vancouver and Brisbane to determine if they were built on old dumpsites? It’s possible that the environmental cause of the illnesses is buried beneath the ground. Studies have linked serious illnesses to exposure to cancer-causing chemicals present in most closed dumps (landfills).
The high rate of Parkinson’s disease among teachers may be the result of building many schools on top of toxic waste dumps. Contact our organization for more information.
Janice R. England
People Investigating Toxic Sites
toxicsites.org
toxicsites@hotmail.com
10 Jan 2008 at 1:35 pm Link to this comment
Hi Janice and thanks for the input.
I’m not aware of any studies into the previous land use of the sites involved, but what you suggest is certainly plausible.
I checked out your toxicsites.org. You may wish to add this example from my hometown in Australia to your list of home sites built on waste sites. A housing development was built on a disused timber pole impregnation plant. It took 3 years to resolve the legal wranglings. More here.
11 Jan 2008 at 7:37 am Link to this comment
Zak,
I will add you hometown to our list. Thank you for the link. Were there illnesses from exposure to chemicals in the dump? Was groundwater contaminated?
I continue to be surprised and disappointed that historical research is overlooked in many environmental investigations. A title search needs to be conducted on the studio property where Michael J. Fox and at least four other members of cast and crew were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Research of old maps of the area would also be helpful in finding previous land-use. Does anyone know exact location of the studio?
Janice
toxicsites.org
toxicsites@hotmail.com
30 Aug 2009 at 4:57 am Link to this comment
One outside vector that has the highest probability of causing this is the borreliosis spirochete.
Where did they get it? Tics. Michael J Fox was diagnosed with Lyme Disease before Parkinsons. Current medical research points to a chronic low grade infection of the central nervous system.
This manifests in various ways depending on part of brain.
These patients are rarely given the correct diagnosis, when they do develop neuro issues years later they are labeled
MS, Parkinson’s, Dementia etc. Basically diseases with no known cause. The cause in many cases is a chronic infection. When Treated with IV antibiotics they generally improve.
None of the neuro degenerative diseases are treated this way. They are treating the symptoms of decreased dopamine and not the source which is infectious.
Michael J Fox and cast were in an endemic region for lyme.
It is not unlikely that some of the cast members were bitten and infected.
Many times lyme is treated with short term orals and if done early usually works. If the infection goes on longer where its in the CNS the orals will not kill them all.
This particular spirochete (bacterium) seems to be able to evade the host immune system. It is slow growing compared to other bacteria which might explain why symptoms come on very gradually and tend to wax and wayne. It can mimic many other more common entities.
I believe Michale J Fox and cast suffer from post lyme syndrome or AKA neuro borreliosis.
I do not know if they have been treated for this. If I were one of them I would get the appropriate labs done by someone who specializes in this. One would think an infectious disease doctor would be the first choice, but its actually the last choice.
30 Aug 2009 at 7:22 am Link to this comment
Thanks for the insights, Rjones.
30 Aug 2009 at 12:59 pm Link to this comment
Anytime! Medicine moves at a snails pace, one would think this information would be more mainstream but it is not.
In maybe 15 years or more, we will be testing all so called autoimmune diseases for an infectious etiology before giving it a label of a disease of UNKNOWN cause. There is a cause.
Read some of this information.
http://www.ctlymedisease.org/conference1.htm
20 Mar 2010 at 10:30 am Link to this comment
I am being treated for lyme after many yrs of various symptoms. Mostly on and off muscualr issues. 10 months ago I began w respiratory then neurological issues. Memory loss, speech slurring, problems focusing, burning eyes, panic attacks. I am being givenoral anti biotics since Nov. 2009. I wasn’t diagnosed from June – Nov. june is when the respiratory part started. Don’t know if I had this 1 yr or 10 yrs. Do people believe one CAN get better with intra venous after this long of a time, or CAN oral anti-biotics work? What about homeopathy? Alternative therapies? Pleas comment.. thanks, praying to feel good again… DEE
20 Mar 2010 at 1:58 pm Link to this comment
It sounds like chemicals in the environment may have caused your illness. Where were you living and working (or going to school) when you first had symptoms? Are you still living in the same location? I’d like to check our files and see if we have information that may be helpful in finding what caused your health problems.
Janice