[TheForge] Article in "Neurology" Journal,,,sound familiar?

[Ralph Sproul]

Walt, Wow, three guys from one shop.......did they ever figure what caused
those odds?

Ralph

----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter Mullett" <wmullett at bright.net>
To: <artgawk at thegrid.net>; "'Sponsored by ABANA'" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 10:09 AM
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Article in "Neurology" Journal,,,sound familiar?


> My brother-in-law, a welder, worked with a lot of different metals /
alloys.
> He developed brain cancer as did two others in the same shop.  He was
lucky
> because it killed him within 3 months of discovery.  His initial symptoms
> were palsy like.
>
> Walt
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Peter Fels And
Phoebe
> Palmer
> Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 9:23 PM
> To: Sponsored by ABANA
> Subject: [TheForge] Article in "Neurology" Journal,,,sound familiar?
>
>
>
> Researchers found that among more than 1,400 welders from Alabama, the
> prevalence of Parkinson-like symptoms, including tremor, muscle rigidity
and
> slowed movement, was 7 to 10 times higher than the norm for the general
> population.
> The findings, based on a group of mostly male welders between the ages of
40
> and 69 years, are published in the journal Neurology.
> In an earlier study of 15 career welders, the same investigators found
that
> the men started suffering Parkinson's symptoms at an atypically early
age --
> at age 46 on average, versus age 63 in a comparison group of non-welders.
> That led the researchers to speculate that an as yet unknown toxin in
> welding fumes might speed the onset of Parkinson's disease in people who
> would likely have developed the disease at an older age.
> That study, published in 2001, has since been cited in lawsuits against
> welding-rod manufacturers. Late in 2003, a jury awarded $1 million to a
> plaintiff who claimed that years of inhaling toxic welding fumes caused
his
> Parkinson's disease, and thousands of similar lawsuits have since been
> filed.
> But exactly how common Parkinson's is among welders has been unknown. To
> find out, Dr. Bruce A. Racette of Washington University School of Medicine
> in St. Louis and colleagues assessed 1,423 welders, mostly men, who were
> referred by an attorney for Parkinson's screening. The researchers
compared
> the welders' rates of "definite" and "probable"
> Parkinson's disease with those found in a previous study of people living
in
> Copiah County, Mississippi.
> Overall, 6 percent to 10 percent of the welders were diagnosed with
definite
> Parkinson's disease, while 13 percent were found to have probable
> Parkinson's disease. As mentioned, their rates were 7 to 10 times higher
> than those in the general male population of Copiah County.
> "This study is the largest, to date, implicating welding as a risk factor
> for parkinsonism," Racette told Reuters Health. Other studies, he added,
> have found no such risk, but it's unclear whether that is related to the
> smaller size of those study groups.
> "We feel that our study is preliminary and requires follow-up with an
> epidemiology study that incorporates a control group without welding
> exposure," Racette said.
> Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological condition typically
marked
> by four types of symptoms: tremors, muscle rigidity, slowed movement and
> problems with balance and coordination. The disease occurs when certain
> brain cells that produce the movement-regulating chemical dopamine are
> damaged or destroyed.
> No one knows what triggers this brain damage, but scientists believe that
a
> number of factors, genetic and environmental, likely play a role.
> On-the-job exposures to certain chemicals, including pesticides and
> herbicides, have been linked to Parkinson's disease, and overexposure to
the
> mineral manganese can lead to Parkinson's-like symptoms.
> The welding process creates fumes that contain manganese, and according to
> Racette and his colleagues, exposure to the metal "cannot be excluded" as
> the cause of their patients' symptoms.
> There are many potential toxins in welding fumes, Racette noted, though
> manganese is the one best recognized as being damaging to nerve cells.
> More research, he added, will be needed to clarify exactly what led to the
> Parkinson's symptoms seen in these welders.
> The current study received partial funding from the Welder Health Fund,
> created by a group of attorneys to support Parkinson's disease screening
for
> welders. None of the study authors has received money related the
research,
> according to a disclosure statement in the report.
> SOURCE: Neurology, January 25, 2005.
>
>
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