Inflammation of the digestive system could have a role in Parkinson’s disease and ALS says David Perlmutter, MD a board-certified neurologist and author of Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain–for Life.
In research headed by Dr. Rongzhen Zhang at the University of California, San Francisco, he and his team discovered that, like the Parkinson’s research had revealed, in ALS there is also an increase in the leakiness of the gut. And again, like in Parkinson’s, their research revealed that this mechanism caused a robust increase in inflammation, a mechanism that has long been known to be associated with ALS.
These are but two examples of a welcomed change in mentality as it relates to medical research. Inflammation, as a mechanism, is thought to underlie virtually every degenerative condition that humans experience—including Alzheimer’s disease, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and even cancer. And it has become clear that the integrity of the lining of the gut plays a fundamental role in determining the degree of inflammation that the human body experiences.
The Cure for Brain Diseases Is in Your Gut
Image: Shutterstock
