Certain gut conditions may be early warning signs of Parkinson’s disease: Study

According to research several digestive issues like constipation trouble swallowing and irritable bowel syndrome IBS may be precursors of Parkinsonrsquos diseaseThe findings were published in the journal GutIt has been hypothesised Braakrsquos hypothesis that gut disorders may precede the development of Parkinsonrsquos disease Gastrointestinal symptoms are supposed to precede the development of cerebrovascular disease such as stroke or a brain aneurysm or Alzheimerrsquos diseaseTo test this hypothesis the researchers used data from a US nationwide medical record network TriNetX to compare 24 624 people who had been diagnosed with Parkinsonrsquos disease of unknown cause with those who had been diagnosed with other neurological conditionsmdashAlzheimerrsquos disease 19046 or cerebrovascular disease 23942mdashor with none of these 24624 comparison groupThose with Parkinsonrsquos disease were matched with people in the other groups for age sex race and ethnicity and length of diagnosis to compare the frequency of gut conditions included in their electronic health record for an average of 6 years before their Parkinsonrsquos disease diagnosisThe researchers then tested the same hypothesis but in a different way by dividing all the adults in the network who had been diagnosed with any of 18 gut conditions into separate groupsmdashone for each condition of interestPeople in these groups were matched with people without the particular gut condition and monitored via their medical records for 5 years to see how many of them developed Parkinsonrsquos disease or other neurological disordersBoth analyses indicated that 4 gut conditions were associated with a higher risk of a Parkinsonrsquos disease diagnosisSpecifically gastroparesis delayed stomach emptying dysphagia difficulty swallowing and constipation were all associated with a more than doubling risk of Parkinsonrsquos disease in the 5 years preceding the diagnosis while IBS without diarrhoea was associated with a 17 per cent higher riskAppendix removal however seemed to be protective prompting questions about its potential role in the disease processes leading to Parkinsonrsquos disease say the researchersNeither inflammatory bowel disease nor vagotomy removal of all or part of the vagus nerve to treat peptic ulcer were associated with a heightened riskSome other gut issues including functional dyspepsia burning sensation or fullness of the stomach with no obvious cause IBS with diarrhoea and diarrhoea plus faecal incontinence were also more prevalent among people who developed Parkinsonrsquos diseaseHowever these conditions were also more prevalent before the onset of Alzheimerrsquos disease or cerebrovascular diseaseThis is an observational study and as such canrsquot establish cause The researchers also highlight several limitations to their findings including that the monitoring period was relatively short and that the diagnostic information captured in electronic health records might have been incompleteNevertheless they conclude ldquoThis study is the first to establish substantial observational evidence that the clinical diagnosis of not only constipation but also dysphagia gastroparesis and irritable bowel syndrome without diarrhoea might specifically predict the development of Parkinsonrsquos diseaserdquoThey added ldquoThese findings warrant alertness for gastrointestinal syndromes in patients at higher risk for Parkinsonrsquos disease and highlight the need for further investigation of gastrointestinal precedents in Alzheimerrsquos disease and cerebrovascular diseaserdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever