The Indiscriminate Use of Pesticides could Increase the Prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease? A Systematic Review

Aims: This review aims to perform an extensive literature search about the pesticides problems and to associate with AD in qualitative analysis, mainly.

Place and Duration of Study: Biomathematics Laboratory, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil. Entre outubro de 2023 a abril de 2024.

Methodology: For the purpose of this systematic review, articles from 2014 onwards with the descriptors Alzheimer's disease and pesticides; neurodegenerative diseases and pesticides, were sought. Among these, articles considered most pertinent to the objective of the present review were utilized, i.e., those whose subject matter was associated with the effects of pesticides, especially glyphosate, on dementias, particularly Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Results: After analyzed 35,590 articles, and applying exclusion criteria to journals with an impact factor equal to or lower than 4 and including topics most relevant to the objectives of this work, 35,526 articles were excluded, resulting in 64 remaining articles, of which 40 were qualitative in scope and 24 were quantitative. The articles considered most suitable for the objective of the present review were utilized, i.e., those whose topic was associated with the effects of pesticides, especially glyphosate, on dementia. The criteria for scrutinizing articles included a journal impact factor equal to or greater than 4 and the removal of duplicate articles using the freely accessible EndNote program from Web of Science. Articles and books on history and those outside the scope of the pesticide/AD relationship did not follow the criterion of having an impact factor equal to or greater than 4.

Conclusion: There appears to be a relationship between the increase in pesticide use, particularly Glyphosate, and the rise in Alzheimer's disease prevalence.