Hand(s) • One Word Sunday

Entry for Debbie’s One Word Sunday. Although the prompt says ‘hands’ as in plural, I can hardly show both hands holding my daily cigarette.

‘Filthy’…’unhealthy’…’smoking kills’. Yes, undoubtedly. I’ve heard it all before. Moreover, I believe it. Yes, I do. I’ve quit many times, with all this at heart.

But then I heard one of the 6 top – in Parkinson’s Disease specialized – Dutch neurologists say in a speech that ‘they’ had found an inverse relationship with the incidence of Parkinson and smoking. Since I had an appointment with my own neurologist that same week, I confronted her with this, and got confirmation…

Not to take this lightly, I did some research online. Among other things, this article caught my eye:

It kicks-off with an abstract: ‘Evidence from epidemiological studies suggest a relationship between cigarette smoking and low risk of Parkinson disease (PD). As a major component of tobacco smoke, nicotine has been proposed to be a substance for preventing against PD risk, with a key role in regulating striatal activity and behaviors mediated through the dopaminergic system. Animal studies also showed that nicotine could modulate dopamine transmission and reduce levodopa-induced dyskinesias. However, previous clinical trials yield controversial results regarding nicotine treatment. In this review, we updated epidemiological, preclinical and clinical data, and studies on nicotine from diet. We also reviewed interactions between genetic factors and cigarette smoking. As a small amount of nicotine can saturate a substantial portion of nicotine receptors in the brain, nicotine from other sources, such as diet, could be a promising therapeutic substance for protection against PD.’

So ‘filthy’…’unhealthy’…’smoking kills’. Yes, undoubtedly. But I’d rather die from something I like, than from PD!

For previous posts on me and ‘my’ PD, start here.