Cocaine Abuse may Lead to Parkinson's

[Angel]

People who abuse cocaine may be increasing their chances of developing Parkinson's disease as they get older, report researchers studying the effect of cocaine on the brain in a laboratory study.

Even more disturbing, women who use the drug while pregnant could be putting their unborn children as risk for Parkinson's as well.

The study comes from investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., who exposed a key area of the brain in adult and fetal models to cocaine to see how the drug would impact nerve bodies known to play a role in the development of Parkinson's. Results revealed the drug made neurons in this key area -- known as the substantia nigra pars compacta, or SNpc -- more susceptible to a toxin linked to Parkinson's symptoms.

"Our findings suggest that cocaine made the SNpc in adults susceptible to further damage from environmental toxins that can cause Parkinson's disease," says study author Richard Smeyne, Ph.D. "The findings also strongly suggest that women who abuse cocaine during pregnancies put their children at an increased risk for developing Parkinson's disease."

The authors note more than 2 million Americans currently use cocaine, and many people who used the drug in its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s are now reaching the age when Parkinson's disease is most likely to develop.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week.

SOURCE: Neuroscience, published online Dec. 13, 2005