People who suffer from poor gut health, including constipation and nausea over a long period of time, may be at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a study that shows the neurological disorder may begin in the gut rather than the brain.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately 8.5 million people worldwide and is primarily characterized by tremors, rigidity, and loss of balance.
The study, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, found that a history of damage to the lining of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract is 76 percent more likely to develop Parkinson’s.
Trisha S. Pasricha, a neurogastroenterologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in the US, said science has yet to fully unravel how the gut exerts such an outsized influence on the brain.
He said that decades before developing typical motor symptoms such as difficulty walking or tremors, Parkinson’s patients “experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as constipation and nausea for years.”
To explore the “gut-first hypothesis,” the team conducted a retrospective cohort study that included more than 10,000 patients who underwent upper endoscopy (EGD)—a procedure to image and diagnose problems in the esophagus, stomach, and first portion of the small intestine—between 2000 and 2005.
After more than 14 years, patients who suffered injury to the lining of the upper gastrointestinal tract, also called mucosal damage, showed a 76 percent increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
The study highlights the need to intensify monitoring of these patients because it may open new avenues for early intervention and treatment strategies.
Understanding the link between mucosal damage and Parkinson’s disease pathology may be crucial to finding early recognition of risk as well as possible intervention, Pasricha said.
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