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.