Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research/Causes/Toxins/Mercury

"The Phrase 'Mad as a Hatter' is a reference to Mad Hatter Disease which is a form of Parkinsonism that traditionally afflicted milliners, who were exposed to continual inhalation of Mercury vapour, used in felting when making hats. "

Background
Mercury is a chemical element (Symbol Hg) with an atomic number of 80.

It is used in lighting, in thermometers, as as an amalgam for filling teeth and in cosmetics such as mascara.

Research
1989

Ngim & Devasthasan carried out an epidemiologucal study on 54 idiopathic PD patients in Singapore and established a statistical link between mercury levels in the body and the occurrence of PD.

2003

Miller et al gives a detailed description of a case of mercury exposure.

2004

Bates et al evaluated a cohort of 20,000 people to see whether they had incurred an increased disease risk (including PD) from mercury amalgam fillings. Their results state,” Results were generally reassuring, and provide only limited evidence of an association between amalgam and disease.”

2006

Dantzig  set out to test the hypothesis that there might be a link between the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, Grover’s Disease and blood mercury levels is the body. Grover’s Disease manifests itself as itchy red bumps on the chest and back. He (she?) formed a cohort of 14 randomly selected PD patients an 14 matching controls.

Of the 14 patients with Parkinson's Disease, 13 had Grover's Disease and detectable blood mercury. None of the patients in the control group had a cutaneous eruption and only 2 of the 14 had detectable blood mercury. This extraordinary finding, which will set most PD patients into scratching their chests, appeared in a peer-reviewed journal and has not, so far, been corroborated elsewhere.