Smoking’s apparent Parkinson’s protection traced to carbon monoxide: study
Findings provide a 'novel clue' to why smokers may be less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, researchers say.
It is a well-known paradox that one of the deadliest recreational products on earth — responsible for about 100 million deaths in the 20th century alone — is also protective against Parkinson’s disease.
Now, researchers say they may be a step closer to understanding why, and it is not the nicotine by-products as previously suspected.
A study by University of Oxford researchers has found that the increased carbon monoxide levels exhaled in smokers could be the explanation.
Published in JAMA Neurology, it involved half a million Chinese participants completing a questionnaire on lifestyle, living conditions and medical history, and having their levels of exhaled carbon monoxide measured.
