ABOVE: Clumps of the alpha-synuclein protein (red) are found in healthy individuals’ appendix tissue and in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease.
V. LABRIE/VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Getting your appendix removed may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, researchers report yesterday (October 31) in Science Translational Medicine. The team identified the link between the surgery and the neurodegenerative disease in health data from 1.6 million Swedes.
When analyzing tissue from healthy individuals in the dataset, the investigators found that their appendix tissue had protein clumps similar to those seen in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease. The finding suggests the appendix plays an early role in the disease through this same protein accumulation, the scientists say. These proteins contribute to Parkinson’s somehow, so an appendectomy may prevent their negative activity.
“It plays into this whole booming field of whether Parkinson’s possibly starts in the gut,” Per Borghammer, a ...
