Air pollution and Parkinson disease: a GIS-based approach

描述（由申请人提供）：越来越多的证据表明，长期暴露于空气污染对人体健康有害。然而，人们对空气污染对神经系统结果的影响知之甚少，几乎没有人做过工作来确定空气污染是否会增加患帕金森病的风险。对于大多数PD患者来说，环境因素被认为是疾病风险的重要因素，暴露于杀虫剂、除草剂和农业化学品的人患PD的风险增加，而吸烟的人患PD的风险降低。农药和吸烟等环境因素在PD流行病学中的作用表明，暴露于环境化学物质（如空气污染中的化学物质）也可能影响PD的风险。该申请包括一个培训计划和研究部分，重点是培训候选人在环境健康研究和地理信息系统（GIS）方面的知识，以研究暴露于空气污染与PD风险、死亡率和进展之间的关系。该研究项目将使用两项正在进行的大型前瞻性队列研究，护士健康研究（NHS）和卫生专业人员随访研究（HPFS）来检查PM10， PM2.5, PM10-2.5以及交通空气污染对PD发病率，死亡率和进展的影响。该候选人还将研究空气污染与饮食和生活方式因素之间的相互作用，包括吸烟、摄入抗氧化剂、咖啡因摄入和使用非甾体抗炎药。所选择的人群是本研究的理想选择，因为他们的规模大，随访时间长，饮食和生活方式因素的前瞻性信息，以及大多数队列参与者的地理编码地址的可用性，使候选人处于独特的位置，以探索空气污染对PD的影响。培训计划的重点是培养候选人成为神经疾病环境流行病学领域的独立调查员，特别关注地理信息系统技术和PD。培训计划包括地理信息系统和空气污染模型的课程、环境流行病学和生物统计学的研究讨论会、与导师和顾问的私人会议，以及前往神经病学和环境流行病学的国际会议，介绍拟议的研究结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An accumulating body of evidence suggests that chronic exposure to air pollution has detrimental effects on human health. However, very little is known about the effects of air pollution on neurological outcomes and almost no work has been done to determine if air pollution could contribute to risk of Parkinson disease. For the majority of PD patients, environmental factors are believed to contribute substantially to risk of disease and PD risk has been shown to be increased among persons exposed to pesticides, herbicides and agricultural chemicals, and decreased among tobacco smokers. The observed role of environmental factors such as pesticides and smoking in PD epidemiology suggests that exposure to environmental chemicals, such as those found in air pollution could also influence the risk of PD. This application includes a training plan and research component focused on training the candidate in environmental health research and in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to study the association between exposure to air pollution and risk, mortality and progression of PD. The research project will use two large ongoing prospective cohort studies, the Nurses Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) to examine the effects of PM10, PM2.5, PM10-2.5 as well as traffic air pollution on PD incidence, mortality and progression. The candidate will also study interactions between air pollution and dietary and lifestyle factors including smoking, intake of antioxidants, caffeine intake and use of NSAID anti-inflammatory medications. The chosen populations are ideal for this study because of their large size, long follow-up, prospective information on dietary and lifestyle factors, and the availability of geocoded addresses for the majority of the cohort participants, putting the candidate in a unique position to explore the impact of air pollution on PD. The training plan is focused on preparing the candidate for a career as an independent investigator in the field of environmental epidemiology of neurological disease, with a particular focus on GIS technology and PD. The training plan includes coursework in GIS and air pollution modeling, research seminars in environmental epidemiology and biostatistics, as well as private sessions with mentors and advisors, and travel to international meetings in both neurology and environmental epidemiology to present the results of proposed research.