Pooled Analysis of Tobacco Use and Risk of Parkinson Disease

Top Cited Papers
Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Early case-control studies suggesting that patients with Parkinson disease (PD) are less likely to be smokers were criticized as biased. The observation is counterintuitive; cigarette smoke has long been recognized as a cause of adverse health effects. Thus, selective survival of PD cases and reporting bias were suggested as possible explanations. In the 1990s, reports from prospective cohort studies lent more credibility to the assertion that smoking may play a protective role in PD.1-3 Recent studies also suggested that PD risk is particularly low in active smokers with a long history of intense smoking; some even suggested dose-related risk reductions with increasing pack-years of smoking.3-7 This prompted speculation as to whether and how these observations might inform PD treatment and prevention.8