Its been known for more than 50 years that smoking masked the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, and in some cases delayed the onset of tremors for many years ...
Of course, its a classic case of a treatment more deadly than the disease itself ...
Such was my own experience , a family history of PD, but very little evidence of the disease until I attempted to quit smoking in my 50s. By then, the tremors and stiffness were pronounced enough that I resumed tobacco use just to continue working. My profession required fine motor control and mobility ...
Now that I'm retired, I've found vaping 24mg nicotine to be an adequate self-treatment, far more so than the AMA-approved list of pharmaceuticals for PD, all of which have had serious side effects and limited duration of effectiveness ...
So will I ever quit vaping ? Not if I want to eat without stabbing my face with a fork, or sign my name legibly ...
An interesting excerpt from a relevant article ...
Interestingly, though, a population-based study10 conducted by Dr. Checkoway and colleagues discovered lower rates of PD in people who consumed nicotine from another source altogether: peppers. They found an inverse association between PD and “consumption of nicotine-containing edibles from the same botanical family as tobacco, Solanaceae, including peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes.” The strongest effect was found for peppers, which appeared to reduce risk among non-smokers almost as much as active smoking. No such link was found for other types of vegetables.
The Troubling Link Between Parkinson's and Smoking: Can We Deny the Benefits?