The Latest Research About Gut Health and Predicting Parkinson's Risk

Gut Health

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_digestion We generally do not think about other parts of our bodies when something begins to fail in our brains. Our gut is our second brain. There are many connections between the two. The gut absorbs nutrients to provide good (or bad) health over our lives.

Alcohol, smoking, toxins, stress, disease, and many other factors affect our guts and our brains. Can a disruptive gut microbiome increase the risk of dementia? Yes! Not only the risk of neurodegenerative disease but many other diseases, especially age-related diseases.

Parkinson's Disease (PD)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_disease PD is a chronic disease of the central nervous system resulting in nerve cell death that affects both our motor and non-motor systems (mobility, balance, muscle control, etc.). It is a debilitating disease with no cure. Does gut health play a role in the progression of PD? I believe so. Lifestyle choices matter. Our bodies respond to the foods we eat, the toxins we avoid, the exercise we engage in, the quality of our sleep, the stress management we practice, and more.

PD & Our Gut

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/in-conversation-why-parkinsons-research-is-zooming-in-on-the-gut . PD has doubled worldwide over the past twenty-five years, according to the World Health Organization. Health professionals use several therapies and treatments with little success. Since our gut permeates every aspect of our health, health scientists have begun concentrating on gut health to determine what might delay or prevent the progression of PD.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/in-conversation-podcast is a recent podcast that discussed the value of better understanding the two-way communication between the gut and the brain. Last year, a paper was published in Nature Communications, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34667-x . The gut-brain communication system has been known since the Russian neurologist Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel Prize in 1904.

Gut-Brain Axis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4367209/ Dementia, stress, anxiety, cognitive decline, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, autism spectrum disorder, obesity, and many other health issues have a direct relationship between the gut and the brain. There are some obvious connections between our gut's health and overall health. However, the association and correlation between the gut-brain axis and neurodegenerative disease, like PD, are not as well defined.

Braak’s Hypothesis & PD

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5304413/ Many experts attribute genetic and environmental factors to the cause of PD. The German anatomist, Heiko Braak, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiko_Braak , hypothesizes that unknown pathogens enter the brain through the gut. The Braak Hypothesis tells us that pathogens enter the gut when swallowed. The path to the brain from the gut is via the vagus nerve. If this is possible, many other diseases may follow a similar path.

A quick side note about Heiko Braak – he and his wife, Eva, defined six different pathoanatomical classifications for Alzheimer's disease, known as Braak Stages - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braak_staging .

Further studies on gut health and PD have identified that the gut microbiome of people with PD differs from those without PD. The distinctiveness of the gut microbiome is characterized by dysbiosis (bacterial imbalance).

Gut Microbiome & PD

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/study-in-humans-confirms-link-between-parkinsons-and-gut-bacteria-imbalance . Approximately one-third of gut bacteria of PD patients are unique to other PD patients. The genetic characteristics of the microbes showed fewer short-chain fatty acid producers (gut-friendly bacteria), and equally important is that higher levels of unhealthy bacteria in the gut disrupt the normal pathways for the gut-brain axis to function. The communication channel between the gut and the brain is impaired by poor neuronal function/response.

Further analysis showed that a specific bacterium, Bifidobacterium dentium, is higher in PD patients. This bacterium is known to cause brain abscesses. Other bacterial components commonly found higher in PD patients than non-PD patients were E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Klebsiella quasipneumonia. A study published in mid-2023 in the journal Frontiers by the University of Helsinki evaluating animals with PD (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1181315/full ) identified a similar pathway to PD but with a different bacterium, Desulfovibrio.

Sleep & PD

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38248-4 Desulfovibrio has been found linking PD patients with REM sleep behavior disorder (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247730 ). This Chinese University of Hong Kong study was published several months ago in the journal Nature Communications. However, the Chinese study focused on finding ways to detect PD earlier.

The correlation between an overabundance of the Desulfovibrio bacteria and sleep issues showed a higher risk of contracting PD. It is speculated that the sleep disorder interrupted the brain's ability to dream properly, resulting in PD-like symptoms over time.

Inflammation & PD

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20187228/ It is well known that nearly every disease starts with chronic low-level cellular inflammation. Is inflammation a starting point for PD? The higher levels of 'bad' bacteria create inflammation. Left uncontrolled, inflammation increases the risk of oxidative stress and disease.

We often take antioxidants (fruits and vegetables) to neutralize inflammation. Some medicines accomplish the same thing. Part of the PD problem is that brain inflammation is blocked by a blood-brain barrier that limits certain molecules from entering the brain cavity. As brain inflammation increases and the body's ability to respond is reduced, the risk of PD increases. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-022-00684-6

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a high risk (over 20%) of creating the environment in the body for PD to develop. This 40-year Danish study was published in 2018. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321888

Conclusion

PD is a terrible disease for both the patient and caregivers. Is something as simple as eating properly (balanced nutrition, fewer toxins, etc.) and supplementing with the right balance of probiotics and prebiotics an excellent start to prevent or slow down PD? One would think so. But we often find ourselves at the end of the scale without much time to fix a problem.

There are many studies I have been reviewing over the holidays, and I am amazed at the potential solutions. I have always advocated that you treat the cause to fix a problem – not the symptoms. However, most diseases have multiple pathways and causes. Fix one, and it might work for a while – until another cause bullies its way to the top and leads an assault on our brain (or other part of our body).

Live Long & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com