A team of neurological researchers submitted an article to the
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry demonstrating that Parkinson’s disese patients tend not to engage in impulsive behavior. They also tend to smoke, drink alcohol and consume caffeine less that people who do not battle PD.
One of the first things that epidemiology students learn about is a phenomenon called a confounding variable. Don’t get caught up in the exact definition. A crude definition is an event that is mistakenly labeled as causing another event, when it is really something else. The mistake occurs because people overlook the real reason behind the problem. The idea is better illustrated with an example.
One of the textbook classics is the relationship between drinking and lung cancer. In the 1950s, scientists recognized that people that consumed large amounts of alchol had a higher incidence of lung cancer. However, what they learned is that people that who drank a lot also tended to smoke a lot. As we all know, smoking is really the behavior that increases your risk of developing lung cancer.
So, before you read this next story, please consider the likelihood that skydiving, motocross racing, skateboarding, or snowboarding will
not help anyone to avoid Parkinson’s disease. The author acknowledges some possible underlying causes of this relationship at the end of the article, to her credit.
Click here to read this story.
Certainly, there are exceptions to this tendency to be less impulsive. In a
recent posting we pointed out that some PD treatments may encourage impulsiveness.
On a separate note, a team from MyParkinsonsInfo.com will be attending the
Parkinson’s Action Network forum on February 19-21, and the
World Parkinson Congress on February 22-26. Both events occur in Washington DC. We’ll look forward to making new acquaintances and hearing about your challenges and experiences. We will focus on attending sessions and events that will educate PD patients. We want to pass on information with the hope of improving your lives.
