Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-related

That said, 126% increased odds sounds like a lot but if the odds are 1 in 1000 and the study size contains only 9000 individuals then the usual odds would be 9 cases but 10 cases would represent a 900% increase.

I think you should check your calculation again. A 900% increase from 9 expected cases would be 90 cases.

Also the abstract already explains your questions:

Findings This case-control study found the greatest risk of PD within 1 to 3 miles of a golf course, and that this risk generally decreased with distance. Effect sizes were largest in water service areas with a golf course in vulnerable groundwater regions.

Exposures Distance to golf courses, living in water service areas with a golf course, living in water service areas in vulnerable groundwater regions, living in water service areas with shallow municipal wells, and living in water service areas with a municipal well on a golf course.

So if the local waterplant is extracting ground water where pesticides leach in, that increases the effects, which is to be expected.

Finally there is plenty of harmful chemicals that are known to be harmful but thanks to lobbying remain legal decades after the fact is established. See PFAS and Glyphosate for current examples.

Don't you remember the whole round up court case... some how they slimed out of having to acknowledge all the cancer.

It's a reasonable theory. We have seen people develop Parkinsonian symptoms after exposure to toxins before - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9918159/

The statistics are interesting. If I understand correctly, they picked a group of people with Parkinson's and then identified 20 community-dwelling demographic-matched seniors who were the same age at the time of diagnosis. Then, they looked at the closest distance that the people lived to a golf course within 3 years prior to diagnosis, and computed the likelihood of developing Parkinson's based on demographics, distance to a golf course, and certain characteristics of the water and soil.

I'm not sure your assessment of the odds is accurate going from 9 out of 9000 to 10 out of 9000 should be an 11% increase. This paper shows something like 100% increase within 3 miles of a golf course. So that's 9 in 9000 to 18 in 9000. Still low risk but enough to make scientists go "huh" and maybe for politicians to consider changing regulations about pesticides (I wish). It's not just golf courses to worry about, though. Think of all the farmers, too, who are exposed to similar toxins.

The drinking water angle was added to see of certain soil or sources of drinking water would impact the odds of PD diagnosis. The paper was based on data from Minnesota iirc, so I would expect more rural people to have private wells. My understanding was it was less about "statistical significance" and more about "seeing if this variable can explain away the apparent impact of golf course proximity".

Seems like it could also be that rich old people are more likely to get Parkinsons diagnosed than young people or poor old people, and also more likely to live near a golf course.

For your well question, yes. Very common in rural areas for each house to have their own well and septic. Many golf courses are also located rurally, often with a more well off neighbourhood being developed neaby the course. The golf course may also have a well for irrigation. Poorly maintained and illegally drilled wells may not be sealed effectively and could allow contaminated surface runoff to enter the aquifer faster.

Most rural areas don't have public water mains, and therefore houses draw from private wells for drinking water. Every house I've lived in has had a private well, in NW CT and Western MA. When you buy a house you get the water tested to make sure it meets EPA standards for drinking water. I've lived in houses that had more than the recommended amount of iron, sodium, etc.

Currently living near a golf course now and the water is more acidic than other well water I've had. Currently testing at a neutral 7.0 which is good but our initial well test had it at 6.5 which is not. I assumed it was related to the golf course and farmland.

Some communities also have communal wells--my condo association has 4 which provide water for all the units. They're monitored for quality by an outside agency, but I'm not sure what they check for.

They're all carcinogenic! How fast they give you cancer doesn't matter as much as "they will fucking kill you with your own cells".

That way they can purchase adjacent land very cheaply and keep expanding. Golf courses, literally a cancer.

Correct use of literally, let me shake your hand.

If I can catch it.

"Individuals getting their tap water from groundwater water service areas with a golf course had nearly doubled odds of PD compared with individuals getting tap water from groundwater water service areas without golf courses "

Now THAT is significant

Tons of public courses are on cheap land next to busy roads with fairly modest homes near by. Not all golf courses are rich or luxurious.