Specific GI Syndromes Linked to Parkinson Disease

FRIDAY, Aug. 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Specific gastrointestinal (GI) syndromes including dysphagia, gastroparesis, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) without diarrhea are associated with Parkinson disease (PD), according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Gut.

Bo Konings, from the KU Leuven University Hospitals in Belgium, and colleagues performed a combined case-control and cohort study using the U.S.-based medical record network TriNetX. Individuals with new-onset idiopathic PD were compared to matched negative controls (NCs) and patients with contemporary diagnoses of Alzheimer disease (AD) and cerebrovascular diseases to examine preceding GI syndromes.

The case-control analysis included 24,624 PD patients compared to NCs. Specific associations were seen for gastroparesis, dysphagia, IBS without diarrhea, and constipation with PD (compared with NC and patients with AD and cerebrovascular diseases) in the case-control analysis (odds ratios, 4.64, 3.58, 3.53, and 3.32, respectively, versus NCs) and in cohort analyses (relative risks, 2.43, 2.27, 1.17, and 2.38, respectively, versus NCs). In the case-control and cohort analyses, IBS with constipation and intestinal pseudo-obstruction showed PD specificity (odds ratio, 4.11 and relative risk, 1.84, respectively). In the cohort analysis, appendectomy reduced the risk for PD (relative risk, 0.48). No associations were seen for inflammatory bowel disease or vagotomy with PD.

"These findings warrant alertness for GI syndromes in patients at higher risk for PD and highlight the need for further investigation of GI precedents in AD and [cerebrovascular diseases]," the authors write.

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