Parkinson's disease and environmental factors - Matched case-control studyin the Limousin region, France

The study included 140 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 280 non-P arkinson age-matched controls to evaluate environmental risk factors associ ated with PD. The effect of exposure to environmental and dietary factors w as determined using conditional logistic regression. This multivariate anal ysis showed that PD in first-degree relatives and tea drinking were the mai n risk factors for PD, Smoking appeared to be a protective factor. Exposure to toxic compounds was not a significant risk factor. Further research is needed to validate that tea consumption increases the risk of PD. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.