Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disease. There is no cure, although its symptoms can be relieved by medication. Now, recent research published in the journal Gut reveals that some intestinal problems such as constipation or difficulty swallowing can be early signs of this neurological disease.
Gastrointestinal symptoms are thought to precede the development of a cerebrovascular disease, such as stroke, or Alzheimer’s disease, and it has been suggested that intestinal conditions may also precede the development of the disease. Parkinson.
To conduct the study, researchers compared 24,624 people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease of unknown cause with those diagnosed with other neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s or cerebrovascular disease, or without them.
People with Parkinson’s were matched with people of the same age, sex and race to compare the frequency of bowel conditions included in their health record an average of six years before they were diagnosed with the disease.
The analysis showed that four intestinal conditions were associated with an increased risk of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In particular, gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and constipation are associated with more than double the risk of suffering from Parkinson’s in the 5 years before diagnosis.
The experts concluded that this study “is the first to establish sufficient observational evidence that the clinical diagnosis of not only constipation, but also dysphagia, gastroparesis, and irritable bowel syndrome without diarrhea can specifically predict the development of IBS .” Parkinson’s.”
