Gut microbes may flag Parkinson’s risk years before symptoms appear

Gut microbes may flag Parkinson’s risk years before symptoms appear Researchers have identified a distinctive gut microbiome pattern linked to Parkinson’s disease that appears in both diagnosed patients and a subset of symptom-free individuals who may already be on a disease trajectory. https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/gut-microbes-may-flag-parkinson-s-risk-years-before-symptoms-appear-17139 Parkinson’s disease (PD) is usually diagnosed only after movement problems appear, when more than half of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain have already been lost. By that point, the biological processes driving degeneration have likely been underway for years. A new international study, published in Nature Medicine, suggests those early changes may be detectable not in the brain, but in the gut.