Parkinson’s Disease? The Gut May Be to Blame

Rebecca Lewis June 25, 2015

Parkinson’s disease is among the most prevalent mental health disorders that still give a big question mark to scientists, as it is still unclear why some people develop the disease. But new research from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital may have unlocked the key to a better understanding of the disease. Their findings show that the disease may begin in the gastrointestinal tract and spread through the vagus nerve to the brain.

"Our study shows that patients who have had the entire vagus nerve severed were protected against Parkinson’s disease. Their risk was halved after 20 years. However, patients who had only had a small part of the vagus nerve severed where not protected. This also fits the hypothesis that the disease process is strongly dependent on a fully or partially intact vagus nerve to be able to reach and affect the brain," says Elisabeth Svensson, one of the researchers and postdoc at Aarhus University

The research gives strong proof that Parkinson’s disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract and spreads via the vagus nerve to the brain. Many patients have also suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms before the Parkinson’s diagnosis is made.

"Patients with Parkinson’s disease are often constipated many years before they receive the diagnosis, which may be an early marker of the link between neurologic and gastroenterologic pathology related to the vagus nerve," says Svensson.

Previous hypotheses about the relationship between Parkinson’s and the vagus nerve have led to animal studies and cell studies in the field. However, the current study is the first and largest epidemiological study in humans.

Their ground-breaking study offers a key point in solving the mystery behind the cause of Parkinson’s. In the future, the researchers will seek to identify risk factors for Parkinson’s disease and thus prevent the disease.

"Now that we have found an association between the vagus nerve and the development of Parkinson’s disease, it is important to carry out research into the factors that may trigger this neurological degeneration, so that we can prevent the development of the disease. To be able to do this will naturally be a major breakthrough," notes Svensson.

The study was published in the internationally recognised journal Annals of Neurology.

Source of this article: Vagotomy and subsequent risk of Parkinson’s disease