Gut Problems Could Be Early Warning Signs Of Parkinson's Disease: Study

A recent study has suggested that gastrointestinal issues such as constipation, difficulty swallowing, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) might serve as potential early indicators of Parkinson's disease in some people.

According to the research published online in the journal Gut, gastrointestinal symptoms are thought to precede the development of cerebrovascular disease, such as stroke or a brain aneurysm, or Alzheimer's disease, and it has been suggested (Braak's hypothesis) that gut conditions may precede the development of Parkinson's disease too.

As per a news release, to test this hypothesis, the researchers used data from a nationwide US medical record network (TriNetX) to compare 24,624 people who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease of unknown cause with those who had been diagnosed with other neurological conditions-Alzheimer's disease (19,046) or cerebrovascular disease (23,942)-or with none of these (24,624; comparison group).

Those with Parkinson's disease were matched with people in the other groups for age, sex, race, 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 Parkinson's disease diagnosis.

The 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 the 18 gut conditions into separate groups-one for each condition of interest.

People 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 Parkinson's disease or other neurological disorders.

Both analyses indicated that four gut conditions were associated with a higher risk of a Parkinson's disease diagnosis.

In particular, the study revealed that conditions like gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and constipation were linked to a risk of Parkinson's disease that more than doubled in the 5 years before the official diagnosis. Additionally, individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) without diarrhoea had a 17% higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

The researchers said, " "This 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 Parkinson's disease."

"These findings warrant alertness for [gastrointestinal] syndromes in patients at higher risk for Parkinson's disease and highlight the need for further investigation of [gastrointestinal] precedents in Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular disease," they added.