Welders are exposed to many hazards and are at risk of developing some very serious health issues. One of those hazards is exposure to respiratory hazards created from welding fumes. Through years of research, a phenomenon known as Parkinsonism has been attributed to long-term exposure to welding fumes, namely manganese metals.
Parkinsonism refers to symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that are caused by another condition. Like Parkinson’s, Parkinsonism causes slow involuntary movements, tremors, impaired speech, and muscle stiffness. However, with Parkinson’s, this is generally attributed to the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain, while Parkinsonism can be caused by many factors, such as drug use that interferes with dopamine, viral encephalitis, degenerative disorders, brain tumors or strokes, head injuries, Wilson disease, and toxin exposure.
Parkinsonism tends to progress more rapidly than PD. Below are some symptoms of Parkinsonism:
- Low blood pressure
- Difficulty swallowing
- Constipation
- Urinary problems
- Abnormalities in eye movement
- Hand tremors, especially with one hand
- Falling
- Symptoms do not respond to levodopa treatment
- Inability to do simple tasks
- Inability to express or comprehend written or spoken language
- Inability to associate objects with their role
- Hallucinations
- Dementia
Although Parkinsonism and Parkinson’s have very similar appearing symptoms, they affect completely different regions of the brain. With Parkinson’s, this is known to affect the substantia nigra. With Parkinsonism, the manganese creates slowness in movement through the disruption of dopamine.
Diagnosis
Parkinsonism can be difficult to diagnose. This can make the process lengthy because other conditions must be ruled out first in order to make treatment recommendations. This will generally start with looking the persons medical history and working history to determine particular exposures. Blood tests may be taken to test for potential underlying causes, such as thyroid or liver problems. Imaging scans of the brain will be completed to rule out other causes such as a brain tumor and doctors may perform tests that track dopamine in the brain.