The disease intersection of susceptibility and exposure: chemical exposures and neurodegenerative disease risk

Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and motor neuron disease, the most common of the late-life neurodegenerative disorders, are in most cases thought to have complex etiologies. Common features among these disorders include insidious onset, pathological findings of protein aggregates and selected neuronal degeneration, and resulting characteristic clinical syndromes. The number of elders in the United States, including aging veterans, is increasing. Investigation of causes and preventive interventions for neurodegenerative disorders is increasingly relevant. Recent epidemiological and laboratory studies suggest that exposures years or decades before diagnosis can trigger the processes that ultimately result in a neurodegenerative disease. If this is correct, preventive measures may be needed in midlife or earlier. This article will focus on putative risk factors relevant to military service.