Study finds Parkinson’s disease and gut health closely related

A recent study has found that gut problems could lead to Parkinson’s disease and the health of brain and digestive system are closely related.

Gut problems such as constipation, difficulty swallowing and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) could be early indicators of Parkinson’s disease in some people.

According to a study published in Gut journal, gastrointestinal symptoms are found to precede the development of cerebrovascular diseases like brain stroke or Alzheimer’s disease and Braak's hypothesis suggsets that gut conditions also precede the development of Parkinson’s disease.

The elaborate analyses by the study indicated that four gut conditions led to a higher risk of a Parkinson's disease diagnosis.

The research was based on a comparative study of around 24,624 people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease of unknown cause with people diagnosed with other neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease or cerebrovascular disease.

The study found that conditions like delayed stomach emptying, difficulty swallowing and constipation were linked to a risk of Parkinson's disease. Also individuals had a 17% higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease who were suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) without diarrhea.

“This study is the first to establish substantial observational evidence that the clinical diagnosis of certain gut conditions may specifically predict the development of Parkinson's disease.” quoted a leading news channel as told by researchers in their study.