
Does Parkinson’s Begin in the Gut? (2018) - haltingproblem
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-parkinsons-begin-in-the-gut/
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ferros
For something that is so central to our day to day lives and our health and
well-being, it doesn’t feel like there is enough focus on what goes into our
gut.

By that I mean the number of people that test for allergies and intolerance
feels low when you consider the potential payoff.

Just knowing that avoiding certain foods your body doesn’t tolerate can
massively improve your quality of life if you are indeed intolerant.

~~~
Roritharr
Very true, my wife discovered by accident 10 years ago she is fructose
intolerant, didn't know before about it, and was basically always in pain as
her family was focused on eating healthy by eating lots of fruit...

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fodmap
I'm fructose intolerant too, and when I discovered it, and I adjusted my diet
accordingly, my life changed for the better.

Probably your wife knows about it but just in case, I've found a great relief
in the low fodmap diet by Monash University.

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sradman
This 2018 article rests on the assumption that Lewy bodies [1] are associated
with a pathogen that begins in the gut and works its way into the brain via
the vagus nerve. The way I read the cell biology section, Lewy bodies are the
artefacts of a broken process in nerve/neuron cells.

It seems to me that the broken process is more likely to be senescence related
than a pathogen caused disease that mainly manifests in the elderly.

Regardless, the main take-away I have is that chronic constipation without
prior history may be an early symptom of Parkinson’s. This fits the senescence
model as degraded nerve function in the gut will cause constipation just like
opioids do.

[1]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewy_body#Cell_biology](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewy_body#Cell_biology)

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starfallg
I don't think anybody is discounting senescence being a factor, but rather
theorising the likely pathology of the disease which may be a combination of
different factors, including pathogens together with senescence.

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remarkEon
I really wish it were this simple, and altering your diet was a way to stave
off or treat this horrid disease. My grandfather died from Parkinson's and it
was terrible watching this man who was strong as a bull - even in his 70s -
degenerate into a helpless old man over the course of about 3-4 years.

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bacro
Do you mind me asking what diet your grandfather was following?

My father died last year and he had a very bad case of Parkinson's. The diet
does fit with the explanation to Parkinson's, although there is also sleep
apnea that might have been an even bigger contributor to his Parkinson's
development.

~~~
francisofascii
Not OP, but my grandfather who died from Parkinson's had two risk factors.
Growing up on a farm with pesticides and serving in WW2. Also didn't drink
coffee. So you wonder how theses factor are related to diet. Perhaps all
associated with "constipation" diets. i.e low in fiber.

~~~
blaser-waffle
Anec-data but my grandpa had Parkinson's as well. WW2 vet, ended up getting a
Ph.D in Chemistry and working with fuel additives, plus other interesting
stuff. Meticulously planned eating habits, serious coffee drinker.

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zealsham
Recently we have a surge of research linking medical conditions affecting the
brain to the gut. Often attributed to bacterial that found a way to bypass the
blood brain barrier via the gut .

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EtienneK
Yes, my thought exactly. Seems to be a recurring theme, especially with
autoimmune diseases.

Is there some central source to follow on developments on all the research
surrounding this?

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ra
She's not an immunologist, but I really like Dr Rhonda Patrick's podcast about
the bleeding edge of medical research. She covers microfauna often.
[https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes](https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes)

~~~
lambdaba
I think you meant "flora", relevant xkcd:
[https://xkcd.com/1471/](https://xkcd.com/1471/) :)

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spaetzleesser
A while ago I studied traditional medicine like Ayurveda for a while. A lot of
them state that disease starts from the gut . At the time western medicine
totally rejected this idea and most likely not all disease starts that way.
But over the last years I read more and more news that the gut flora and
nutrition may have more influence than previously thought.

This makes me wonder in what other areas we have blinders on and don’t want to
see things that may be beneficial. Meditation is another area that was
considered BS when started but suddenly is looked at more seriously.

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abledon
yeah, try and explain the concept of 'agni' to people on HN lol

~~~
spaetzleesser
That’s one of the easier ones :).

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throwawayhacka
I really get sad seeing wishfull thinking like this. In mice, it has been
demonstrated that parkinsons is linked to damaged neurons - the cells are
damaged for the lifetime of the animal and the symptoms appear only later in
life. I have parkisons on both sides of my family tree, I've watched people
die from it , I'm watching close loved ones wither away even now. I despise
these feel good articles that offer false hope to the aflicted...

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chiefalchemist
Not all bacteria is bad. In fact, without bacteria within our bodies there
would be no us. It's been a long dirty and evolving road to get to this point.
The First World's modern obsession with hand sanitizers and such is having
unintended consequences. We should not be surprised.

~~~
perl4ever
>The First World's modern obsession with hand sanitizers and such is having
unintended consequences

It's not...obvious...that hand sanitizers screw up your digestive bacteria.
Compared to just soap? It's also not obvious, if it _is_ a concern, why
toothpaste and mouthwash aren't more of a concern.

~~~
chiefalchemist
First, do note "and such." The point being the obcession with being hyper-
clean is an historic blip.

We don't use soap as often. Hand sanitizers are a modern convenience. They're
everywhere. In your purse. In your backpack. And so on.

Our normal and natural exposure to bacteria is being diminished. As our
awareness of our bacteria-driven internal systems increases, pattern _are_ in
fact starting to develop.

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