Peter Moyle

Dorsey and colleagues have written an excellent book about Parkinson's Disease (PD), that puts alot of information about the disease in one place, including its history and causes. As someone who was diagnosed with PD fairly recently, I found it both useful and enlightening. The book is also an easy read albeit with a strong message: Parkinson’s is a modern disease that is preventable. Most cases result from exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals. Yet PD is increasing in frequency worldwide. The authors see PD as an over-looked pandemic. There were 2.6 million people worldwide with the disease in 1990; probably 7 million people have PD today, with 13 million predicted by 2040. Most people who have it, die from it or from resulting pneumonia or other secondary causes. Fortunately, a special drug, a proper diet and a life style that involves lots of exercise can suppress the symptoms of the disease for a long time; they do not,however, halt the brain degeneration that is the ultimate cause. Dorsey et al. provide strong evidence that the disease could be largely eliminated if toxic chemicals to which we are all exposed are banned (as they are in many other countries) especially trichloroethylene, Paraquat, and chlorpyrifos. The book is thus both an understandable guide to PD and a call to action. It should be read not only by those who have the disease or live with people who do, but by those who are interested in making their lives safer from exposure to wide-spread toxic chemicals.