There's Mounting Evidence That Parkinson's Starts in The Gut - Not The Brain

There's Mounting Evidence That Parkinson's Starts in The Gut - Not The Brain

David Nield

Scientists have found mounting evidence that Parkinson's could start in the gut before spreading to the brain, with one study in 2017 observing lower rates of the disease in patients who had undergone a procedure called a truncal vagotomy.

The operation removes sections of the vagus nerve - which links the digestive tract with the brain - and over the course of a five-year study, patients who had this link completely removed were 40 percent less likely to develop Parkinson's than those who hadn't.

But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves - as the researchers behind the new study point out, Parkinson's is complex condition, and they weren't able to include controls for all potential factors, including caffeine intake and smoking.

It's also worth noting that Parkinson's is classed as a syndrome: a collection of different but related symptoms that may have multiple causes.