@A MyParkinsonsTeam Member , Maybe in a way. 'Leaky Gut' is considered a nontraditional diagnosis by traditional medicine, as you probably know. It's supposed to occur when molecules in the intestine pass into the bloodstream because of increased permeability of the gut. I think it's hard to confirm that this has actually occurred, which is why it's controversial. So, it's more of a symptom-based diagnosis. I don't think it directly relates to what I wrote about above. I don't know. SIBO was really considered 'fringe' until they developed a test for it that at least most MDs accept now..

The gut-brain connection is supposed to occur through the vagus nerve, at least as I understand it. So I believe leaky gut would be something else.

Mentioned Users

A MyParki...

Oh the power of poop ... 💩 There is a clinic in England ... From their website ... The Taymount clinic provides FMT treatment to normalise gut bacteria in patients with Clostridium difficile infection. The Taymount clinic has also replaced gut bacteria in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis, post-antibiotic Dysbiosis, food intolerance, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

@Striling1: Thank you for posting all the articles. At least we can see that things are being considered that may some day be the break through.

@A MyParkinsonsTeam Member , yes, it's all over the medical news. It does sound disgusting and it does seem to work. They've been using it particularly with C-Diff that can be so hard to get rid of through conventional antibiotics. It's also been used in other serious disorders of the GI tract. Animal models have suggested that it might one day be used to treat obesity: transplant fecal matter from skinny mice into obese mice and guess what happens? The obese mice lose tons of weight. Can you just see the personal ads: "Obese person seeks fecal matter from chronically underweight individuals" (ugh). Seems like selling Ganges River Water as the new weight loss miracle drink.

Seriously, though, and most relevant to PD: There's been some speculation that, one day, fecal transplantation may be a pathway to treatment of PD. No evidence or trials or even animal studies yet. But lots of speculation.

As one review paper (2015) writes, "it has been recognized that the brain-gut axis interactions are significantly modulated by the gut microbiota via immunological, neuroendocrine, and direct neural mechanisms. Dysregulation of the brain-gut-microbiota axis in PD may be associated with gastrointestinal manifestations frequently preceding motor symptoms, as well as with the pathogenesis of PD itself, supporting the hypothesis that the pathological process is spread from the gut to the brain. Excessive stimulation of the innate immune system resulting from gut dysbiosis and/or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and increased intestinal permeability may induce systemic inflammation, while activation of enteric neurons and enteric glial cells may contribute to the initiation of alpha-synuclein misfolding."

Translation: Alteration of the normal "gut bacterial soup" in PD patients may activate an inflammatory process that contributes to some of the brain changes seen in those with PD.

Mentioned Users

A MyParki...

Not sure I would give USA much credit for furthering or initiating medical research these days. Much of what is going on is off shore.