Now, Chelsea, I don't use this source that often
for news, but this is just the first place I
saw this article. It's Newsweek. So I just honestly,
I know the name, but I couldn't tell you what
its kind of reputation is out there. I just know
it's a name. I would accept it as news. OK. Yeah.
It's got it in the title. So it's got to be.
Yeah, exactly. That's how it works. Someone lie.
Yeah. Exactly. It could not be news. So this
article comes on May 10th, 2025. It was actually
updated on May 12th, 2025, written by Holly Silverman
and article title is Parkinson's disease linked
to living near golf courses. New study. What?
Yeah. Okay. I'm intrigued. Researchers found
that those living within a mile of golf courses
have 126 % higher risk of developing Parkinson's
disease than those who live more than six miles
away, according to a new study published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association,
JAMA. JAMA! Newsweek has reached out to Parkinson's
Foundation as well as the Dr. Brittany Krizanowski
researcher. Oh, okay. Sorry, there's a comma
there in this. I was reading as Dr. Brittany
Krizanowski, the researcher, which is Dr. Brittany
Krizanowski, comma, researcher for the study,
comma, or comment. You know, the researcher.
Areas that shared drinking water supplies with
water used near golf courses were the most greatly
impacted, the study shows. Researchers believe
this shows that the pesticides used on golf courses
could contribute to the amount of Parkinson's
cases. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative
disease estimated to affect about 10 million
people globally. At about 1 .1 million people
in the United States, according to the Parkinson's
Foundation, there is no cure but treatments are
available. Researchers used data of golf course
locations throughout the US along with data from
the United States Geological Survey on 224 water
service areas across 27 counties in Wisconsin
and Minnesota. Data from 711 municipal wells
provided by the Minnesota Geospatial Information
Office was also used to determine the correlation
between proximity and prevalences of cases. During
the study, 450 incident cases from 1991 to 2015
were identified in Olmsted County, Minnesota.
Quote, the odds of PD, which I think is Parkinson's
disease, were relatively constant within close
proximity to a golf course and decreased linearly
as distance increased. Individuals living farther
from a golf course have reduced odds of PD decreasing
relative to the distance from the nearest golf
course, end quote the study explained. Previous
studies have already linked chemicals found in
pesticides including paraquat and rotanone to
neo -degeneration according to the study. The
disease impacts the nervous system causing symptoms
such as tremors, slow movement, and rigid muscles
among others according to Mayo Clinic. Parkinson's
disease is believed to be caused by a combination
of genetics and environmental factors, with men
1 .25 times more likely to develop the disease.
Her symptoms may include little expressions on
the face, difficulty walking, and soft or slurred
speech. The Parkinson's Foundation says cases
have been higher in areas such as the Rust Belt,
which includes parts of the Midwest. Cases are
also high in Southern California, Southeast Texas,
Central Pennsylvania, and Florida, according
to the Foundation. Utah saw the highest rate
of Parkinson's mortality at 12 .4%, while California
saw the highest number of deaths, with 4 ,289
according to the U .S. Center for Disease Control
and Prevention. National medical advisor for
the Parkinson's Foundation, Dr. Michael Okun,
posted on Twitter on Saturday, quote, Parkinson's
cases are exploding. We now face 11 .8 million
cases globally and the numbers are climbing fast.
Despite this reality, we still spend just 2 -3
% of every Parkinson's dollar on prevention.
That has to change. He also added that quote,
This isn't about golf, it's about pesticides,
environmental exposures and preventable risks
hiding in plain sight. If we don't shift from
reactive treatment to proactive prevention, the
burden will become unmanageable. Who will this
affect? Everyone including families, health systems,
economies and societies. The science is accumulating.
The signals are clear. Now we need the will and
a Parkinson's plan." The researchers also said
in the study, quote, individuals getting their
tap water from groundwater services areas with
a golf course had nearly doubled the odds of
PD compared to, again, Parkinson's disease. compared
with individuals getting tap water from groundwater
services areas without golf courses and 49 %
greater odds of PD compared with individuals
getting drinking water from private wells. Researchers
say more information is needed to further study
the link between pesticides, golf courses, and
the prevalence of Parkinson's disease. The Parkinson's
Foundation says an estimated 90 ,000 more people
will be diagnosed this year with the number of
those suffering expected to be about 1 .2 million
by 2030. And that's the end of our article. It's
interesting that they go the link between pesticides
and golf courses, as if it's the golf course
itself, contributing to the Parkinson's, which
I don't, or PD, so sorry. Which I don't think
is actually a link causing the PD. Golf courses
don't cause PD, per se. And they're really making
it seem like it is. I would be interesting to
see, which they also didn't link in there, is
the average age of people who reside next to
golf courses. That is true, but you got to remember
it's not next to golf courses. It's within one
to three miles of a golf course. Which is still,
I would probably go out on a limb to say that
the average age is going to be higher within
one to three miles of a golf course. I mean,
yeah, that's fair. We don't exactly know the
areas that they were studying. I can't give you
that much. I can tell you I'm within one to three
miles of a golf course, but also we don't have
groundwater that we drink where we are. It all
comes from a pretty far away. That's true. I
mean, I could definitely see where they're going
at, but there's definitely some finer tuning
of the wording that they're using. Yeah. Well,
and I think that they kind of didn't quite shine
a light on this, but I think it's harder to study
that it is somewhat of a follow -up on one of
the episodes we did a long time ago on the issue
of modern day yards and specifically the pesticides
we use to keep them looking just grass and that's
why it's an interesting link yeah and it's why
it looks so prevalent with golf courses because
golf courses are such a large area where they
need to keep it looking like pristine grass yeah
and that's why they use a larger amount of this
and why it's easier to study but i would wonder
if they could show a very easy link between a
house that uses pesticides versus one that doesn't
they could have vined to that investigation a
little bit further rather than just broadly saying
golf course. And they never even brought up the
fact that these might be pesticides you're using
in your yard and maybe you shouldn't. That's
true because also you're not necessarily just
going to be having groundwater next to a golf
course. You could be having them in other locations,
but they didn't even mention that at a golf course
you might be using more pesticides. Yeah. So
there's work to be done. Was it this week? Technically
Newsweek did the article. I'm wondering if it
goes more in depth in the actual research paper.
I haven't read it. I have only read the article,
which I don't know if it shows it well in this
article. So it might be worth a read. But yeah,
like, like we've done all we're willing to do.
It is a mini after all. Other than rant, we will
rant some more for you. but the modern yard is
just like so wasteful and bad for the environment
and this is just like one of those factors that
didn't necessarily get fully brought up in that
episode but actually that's one that might have
been interesting to look at is sod farms where
they're growing grass because i guarantee you
they're using pesticides there as well i didn't
even think about that yeah i wonder if that'd
be the next place to study it's gotta be maybe
not by newsweek that's for sure not by newsweek
they're not doing their research not at all Yeah,
that research either. Newsweek, where we only
vaguely make connections. Live next to a golf
course? Well, you're gonna get PD. Parkinson
was too much for him. That's not generally something
you would abbreviate, but okay. You got the P
- oh man, I make light. It's a horrible disease,
but you got the PD. It is, but abbreviating like
that I feel like is making light. They shouldn't
have said it. Is it? I don't know, I have S gets
shortened all the time. But that one's a harder
word to say. Is it? Multiple? Yeah, sclerosis,
that's harder. Oh, well what about multiple S?
Why can't they just go with multiple S? Oh god.
But PD, it doesn't need to be a breed. Maybe
it's just because it's not normalized, PD. Or
is it? I don't know. I don't know either. Anyhow,
it's a horrible disease. What's his name? The
kid from Back to the Future. Oh, I was just thinking
about him. He's still going strong. Somebody
tweeted him and see if it's acceptable by him
to breed. Or is it a slur? Yeah. It might be.
Don't tweet him. At least don't mention us. Yeah.
Michael J. Fox, you are on your own. We will
not back you up. Anyhow, you guys got 48 hours.
Tweet at whom you may without our names involved.
Yeah. Bye.