References & Sources

Tropical fruits linked to parkinsonism

A diet including soursop and related tropical fruits is linked to Parkinson’s-like diseases that strike the elderly in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

References:

Caparros-Lefebvre, D., A. Elbaz, and the Caribbean Parkinsonism Study Group. 1999. Possible relation of atypical parkinsonism in the French West Indies with consumption of tropical plants: A case-control study. Lancet 354(July 24):281.

Further Readings:

Booth, R.G., N.J. Castagnoli, and H. Rollema. 1989. Intracerebral microdialysis neurotoxicity studies of quinoline and isoquinoline derivatives to MPTP/MPP+. Neuroscience Letters 100:306.

Elizan, T.S., A. Hirano, and B.M. Abrams. 1966. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia complex on Guam: Neurological reevaluation. Archives of Neurology 14:356.

McGeer, P.L., et al. 1997. Familial nature and continuing morbidity of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism dementia complex of Guam. Neurology 49:400.

Rodgers-Johnson, P., et al. 1986. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism dementia on Guam: A 30-year evaluation of clinical and neuropathologic trends. Neurology 36:7.

Spencer, P.S., et al. 1987. Guam amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-parkinsonism-dementia linked to a plant excitant neurotoxin. Science 237:517.

Sources:

Dominique Caparros-Lefebvre
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire des Antilles et de la Guyane
Department of Neurology
Route de Chauvel
97159 Pointe à Pitre
Guadeloupe, French West Indies

Alexis Elbaz
Hôpital de la Salpêtrière
Inserm U360
Boulevard de l’Hopital
75013 Paris
France

Paul A. Rosenberg
Harvard Medical School
Children’s Hospital
300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115

Herman J. Weinreb
New York University Medical Center
530 First Avenue
Suite 5A
New York, NY 10016

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 5, July 31, 1999, p. 69. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.