United Kingdom: A new study has found that digestion problems such as constipation or difficulty swallowing can double the chance of developing Parkinson’s disease. The origins of Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, and brain aneurysms have been linked to the gastrointestinal tract.
The study published in the BMJ journal stated that four gut conditions could be an early warning sign of Parkinson’s disease. “It is the first to establish substantial observational evidence that a clinical diagnosis of gut issues might specifically predict the development of Parkinson’s disease,” the authors noted.
The study compared the medical records of 24,624 people in the US with Parkinson’s, 19,046 people with Alzheimer’s, and 23,942 people with cerebrovascular disease. Those with Parkinson’s were matched with patients in the other groups for age, sex, race, ethnicity, and length of diagnosis to compare the frequency of gastrointestinal conditions in the six years before diagnosis.
The research team further examined the medical records of everyone involved in the study who had been diagnosed with any of the 18 gut conditions, comparing them with those who did not have the specific condition over a span of five years. This was done to find out how many of them developed Parkinson’s disease or other neurological disorders.
Both comparisons found a higher risk of a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis for patients with gut issues. Those with constipation, difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), and gastroparesis, where food takes longer to move from the stomach into the small intestine, were more than twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease in the five years before diagnosis, while IBS without diarrhea was associated with a 17 percent higher risk.
Some gastrointestinal symptoms, including functional dyspepsia (a burning sensation or fullness of the stomach with no obvious cause), IBS with diarrhea, and diarrhea plus fecal incontinence, were found to be more common among patients who developed Parkinson’s disease too.
Ms. Clare Bale, Associate Director of Research at Parkinson’s UK, commented that the findings “add further weight to the growing evidence that gut problems may be early warning signs of Parkinson’s”.
“Understanding how and why gut issues appear in the early stages of Parkinson’s could open up opportunities for early detection and treatment approaches that target the gut to improve symptoms and even slow or stop the progression of the condition,” Ms. Bale added.
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