Stomach bug clue to Parkinson's

Monday May 23rd, 2011

A stomach ulcer bug may have helped trigger Parkinson's disease in many people, researchers revealed yesterday.

A new laboratory study has provided fresh evidence of the link, which has been suspected for some time.

Researchers say that the bug, helicobacter pylori, seems to increase susceptibility to the disease in aged humans.

Doctors have found that eradicating the bug in people with Parkinson's disease helps improve symptoms - and studies have shown that patients are more likely to be infected than others.

One study in Guam found that a compound in seeds was toxic to the brain, causing Parkinson's symptoms, and that the compound is almost identical to a substance produced by the germ.

The latest research involved laboratory mice and showed that infection with one strain of the bug caused Parkinson's symptoms within five months.

The findings were reported to the conference of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans, USA, yesterday.

Researcher Traci Testerman of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, said: "Our findings suggest that H. pylori infection could play a significant role in the development of Parkinson's disease in humans."

She added: "The results were far more dramatic in aged mice than in young mice, demonstrating that normal aging increases susceptibility to Parkinsonian changes in mice, as is seen in humans."

Tags: Brain & Neurology | Gastroenterology | North America

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