August 25, 2023 – A big, well-designed recent study links Parkinson's disease to gastrointestinal problems.
Parkinson's is the second commonest neurodegenerative disease within the United States after Alzheimer's. An estimated 90,000 people develop the disease annually.
The commonest symptoms affect an individual's movements and may include tremors, slowed movements, or difficulty walking. Parkinson Foundation It is estimated that 1 million people within the United States are affected by this disorder, which may also cause sleep problems, depression and speech disorders.
This latest study was published on Thursday within the magazine Colon. Researchers wanted to research a theory that Braak's hypothesis This suggests that sporadic Parkinson's disease is attributable to a pathogen that enters the body through the nose, is swallowed, after which travels to the intestines. The pathogen could possibly be a virus, bacteria, or other microorganism.
The researchers compared the health records of 24,624 individuals with Parkinson's within the United States with those of greater than 8 million people without Parkinson's who had similar demographic characteristics.
Comparisons have also been made with individuals with cerebrovascular diseases, which include strokes, aneurysms and Alzheimer's disease, which have already got established associations with the gastrointestinal tract.
Researchers found that individuals diagnosed with Parkinson's were significantly more prone to have 4 specific gastrointestinal conditions that led to the Parkinson's diagnosis.
In particular, the researchers found that:
- Gastroparesis, also referred to as delayed gastric emptying, increases the chance of developing Parkinson's disease by greater than 4 times.
- Difficulty swallowing, also referred to as dysphagia, greater than triples the chance of developing Parkinson's disease.
- Even with irritable bowel syndrome without diarrhea, the probability is greater than tripled.
- In addition, constipation increases the chance of developing Parkinson's disease by greater than 3 times.
The study also showed that appendectomy appears to offer a protective profit.
“These findings require special attention to GI syndromes in patients at higher risk for [Parkinson’s disease] and underline the need for further investigation,” the authors write.