Ask Dr. Nick
On today’s episode, Dr. Nick talks about how constipation is one of the early symptoms of Parkinson Disease. Parkinson Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease with both genetic and environmental factors. Environment may be most contributing to the onset of the disease because environmental toxins such pesticides and lectins in food have been shown to induce formation of alpha-synuclein proteins (the hallmark of PD). These proteins, along with leaky gut and gut dysbiosis, will develop in the enteric nervous system and travel up the vagus nerve to the brain. They affect the function and efficiency of the vagus nerve leading to decreased gut motility, slowed bowel transit, and constipation. Then, these proteins enter the midbrain where they affect the dopamine-producing cells. Dopamine also helps with motivation and movement initiation including gut movement. Check out the video for more in depth information on how constipation is an early symptom of PD and should be recognized early to stop progression of the disease!
- Santos SF, de Oliveira HL, Yamada ES, Neves BC, Pereira A Jr. The Gut and Parkinson’s Disease-A Bidirectional Pathway. Front Neurol. 2019;10:574.
- Minato T, Maeda T, Fujisawa Y, et al. Progression of Parkinson’s disease is associated with gut dysbiosis: Two-year follow-up study. PLoS One. 2017;12(11):e0187307.
