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Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

My dad is suffering from Lewy Body Dementia which is related to Parkinson's. He was an auto mechanic his entire adult life (from around 1960 - 2010). I wonder if he was exposed to TCE?

I did a 23 and Me test and never unlocked the health results. I'm a little terrified of finding out that dementia is in my future as well.

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I bought some brake cleaner not too long ago and saw all the labeling about the new formulation. I just looked up what the old formulations used to look like, check it out.

> Chlorinated brake cleaners (often sold as non-flammable) use organochlorides like tetrachloroethylene and Dichloromethane.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_cleaner#Composition

Compared to the new formulation

https://www.crcindustries.com/products/brakleen-174-pro-seri...

so called 50 state compliant. https://www.crcindustries.com/products/brakleen-174-pro-seri...

Well shit, I always preferred the old fully chlorinated stuff because it works better. When you say "chlorinated" I assume that means it contains chlorine, which isn't great, but is more an issue for chemical burns than anything, so you wear gloves and eye pro and don't worry about it. I never looked into it. I've probably inadvertently exposed myself to a /ton/ of TCE working on cars and other mechanical things. I buy brake cleaner by the case...

Yah I chloro is used to communicate that a chlorine atom is somewhere present in the molecular structure of the compound. https://www.etymonline.com/word/chloro-

Degreaser is a common part of a car mechanics life. Especially so 30+ years ago where it was more common to clean and replace parts than now when it's more usual to just replace any removed part.

This is counter-intuitive but I guess there are cases where throwing away the part and replacing with a new one is MORE environmentally friendly that reusing the part—when it involves not-so-nice solvents. I hadn't considered this before.

Maybe. Depends on how environmentally friendly manufacturing, packaging and transporting the new part is. I suspect it’s a win in chemical terms most of the time, but it may not be an overall blowout win.

I did a 23 and Me test and never unlocked the health results. I'm a little terrified of finding out that dementia is in my future as well.

I was in almost the identical boat but I pulled the trigger on looking at the test results, ended up fine. Better to know and try to manage it I think.

Intellectually, I know you're right.

There's also the angle that if I want to buy life insurance I may be better off not knowing.

After seeing how it's affecting my dad, I know how I'd "manage" it. It really is awful and decades of mental decline coupled with terrifying hallucinations is not something I'm willing to endure.

> buy life insurance I may be better off not knowing.

I think it’s moot because life insurance will check your genes as part of underwriting.

In the US genes can’t be used to discriminate for employment or healthcare [0], but can for everything else.

I got a quote for term insurance in 2008 and they tested for lots of genetic conditions.

You can probably get by if you have unique, rare mutations that aren’t commonly studied. But anything basic enough to be found in a 23andme profile is likely to be checked by your insurance.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_discrimination

The life insurance angle is real, but the solution isn’t to wait, it’s to get into the plan before you find out. You can always stop the plan if you think your risks aren’t as high later when you know more!

If he used a lot of brake cleaner or carburator cleaner then likely yes. Either TCE or a similar chlorinated solvents.

Both Parkinson's and Dementia with Lewy Bodies mostly occur without family history, so the test may not say much anyway.

In my mom's case I wonder about a viral infection she had in her eye. It was quite severe.

> mostly occur without family history

Does that suggest it's environmental rather than genetic?

Even genetic diseases sometimes need environmental influences to develop.

For example, some people are prone to alcoholism in a hereditary way. But if they live in a society that has zero alcohol, they won't ever become alcoholic. Upon moving to a society where alcohol is sold freely and frequently, they may sink into alcoholism without having any obviously alcoholic ancestor.

I don't know really.

I think the cutting edge opinion is that it isn't known why they occur.

Not necessarily. A homozygous recessive disorder often occurs without prior family history.

Two carriers have a child together, the child has the disorder, this is how they learn they are carriers.

I'm sorry to hear that.

TCE is a degreaser which is used to clean car parts so most likely.

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