Preliminary Multifactorial Analysis of Parkinson's Disease

• Main Author: Miller, Max James
• Other Authors: Wilson, Vince
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: LSU 2014
• Subjects: Environmental Sciences
• Online Access: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04112014-071640/

Neurodegenerative disorders affect millions of Americans every year. Incidence increases as the human population ages. Parkinsons Disease, a neurodegenerative disorder in the dopaminergic system of the basal ganglia, causes deterioration of movement as the disease progresses. Researchers have attempted to figure out what causes PD and are currently examining it as an environmental disease. This study examined PD as an environmental disease using a multifactorial approach. Methods included 1) utilization of hospital and mortality records in order to investigate a relationship between occupation and PD 2) using ArcGIS 10.2 technology to examine the spatial components of PD 3) conducting Chi-Square tests and other statistical tests in order to determine the validity of the approach. The findings of this study identified that no factor singlehandedly was responsible for increased PD hospitalization or mortality. Furthermore, this study concludes that many factors in combination may contribute to increased PD hospitalization and/or mortality.