could be
thanks Maryse

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
[log in to unmask]

--------------------------------------------------
From: "mschild" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 12:08 AM
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: more on guts

>> Subject: more on guts
>
>> September 02, 2009
>> A kick in the guts for Parkinson's disease:=20
>> Your gut has its own neural network. Called the enteric nervous system, =
>> it controls digestion and has as many neurons as the spinal cord.
>>
>> Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that has been long associated =
>> with stomach upsets. These were often explained away as due to poor diet 
>> =
>> or stress, but it seems increasingly likely that the disease may also be 
>> =
>> affecting the neurons in the digestive system.
>>
>> It was originally thought just to destroy dopamine neurons in a deep =
>> brain structure called the nigrostriatal pathway, an effect which causes 
>> =
>> the distinctive movement problems, but it has become clear that the =
>> disorder causes damage throughout the nervous system via the formation =
>> of protein clumps called Lewy bodies.
>>
>> A new article in European Journal of Neuroscience suggests that =
>> Parkinson disease affects the enteric nervous system, which might tie =
>> together some curious findings in the medical literature that have =
>> remained unexplained for many years.
>>
>> Stomach upsets, swallowing and digestion problems have long been =
>> associated with Parkinson's but it has never really been clear why.
>>
>> While we commonly think of it purely in mechanical terms, digestion is =
>> remarkably complex process and the enteric nervous system is involved in 
>> =
>> the careful regulation of the muscle ripples of the gut, secretion of =
>> digestive fluids and blood flow to aid absorption.
>>
>> Damage to this system would cause exactly the sorts of problems that =
>> have been reported in Parkinson's disease patients and this fits with =
>> some previous findings that have been ignored for many years.
>>
>> Until recently, only one study had investigated whether the enteric =
>> nervous system was damaged in Parkinson's patients. It found that large =
>> numbers of the gut's dopamine neurons seemed to be missing in patients =
>> with the disorder.
>>
>> The next study appeared more than ten years later, this time looking for 
>> =
>> protein clumps in the gut of deceased patients, and found evidence that =
>> not only were these tell-tale signs present, but that the distribution =
>> suggested that neurons in the gut may be the first to be damaged.
>>
>> The author of this study, neuroscientist Heiko Braak now proposes the =
>> radical idea that while we know part of the risk for Parkinson's is =
>> genetic, maybe an environmental trigger - a virus - could get into the =
>> nervous system via the stomach, eventually triggering the brain changes =
>> that lead to the debilitating tremors and movement problems.
>>
>>
>>
>
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