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« on: November 08, 2022, 11:43:15 AM »
As someone from Guam, I can add a little bit to the discussion of Parkinson's/Lytigo Bodig. What isn't mentioned in the studies is that Lytico Bodig disease on Guam is specifically from within one single family clan in the South. The disease is not known to be prevalent on neighboring islands to the north of us who share cultural and dietary similarities. Consumption of bats was a very common practice in the past, especially during and after WWII, when the entire population was held captive by the Japanese Military and farmed crops were stolen by Japanese troops under threat of death. Wild-sourced foods, such as fruit bats, were relied upon by the local population. In addition to the bats, which are laden with the bioaccumulating neurotoxin, its also worth mentioning that toxic cycad nuts themselves (processed but still assumingly containing enough toxins to be detrimental) are used as a food source, as are 3 species of Annonas: soursops, sugar apples and custard apples. Another point worth mentioning is the entire island used to be sprayed with DDT by the Military during the Vietnam War to combat mosquitoes and possible malarial outbreaks from within the camps set up for transitioning Vietnamese refugees headed to the US. Up till this day, mustard gas and dangerous rainbow chemicals used during WWII remain hidden in jungle pathways and such. If it's the bats or the cycads or the annonas or WWII chemicals at work or possibly a synergy of everything? Hard to say why Lytico Bodig isn't as widespread on island and why it has decimated one family clan and not the next. What is apparent now a days is the decline of poisonous cycads in our forests due to invasive insects, the decline of bats due to an invasive snake, and the decline of bats as a food source and the decline of cycad nuts as a food source. The 3 species of annonas remain popular with the older generation but with the introduction of the Western diet, the younger generation struggles to identify a custard apple. Also apparent is the disappearance of Lytico Bodig but the persistence of Parkinson's within the local population.