New research reveals that people who have their appendices removed are three times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease later in life.
The study involving more than 62 million patients found that those who had the operation were at a three-fold bigger risk of developing the condition.
More than 10 million people worldwide develop Parkinson’s disease, a progressive nervous system disorder with no cure. It may start with a tremor in only one hand and causes slowing of movement or stiffness.
The newly discovered link between Parkinson’s and appendix may give a hint about where, why and when Parkinson’s starts to occur.
Around 300,000 Americans undergo surgery to have the little part removed every year. According to the Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center study, almost 2,800 of them might develop Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers analyzed data of more than 62 million patients and discovered that 488,190 had their appendixes removed. 4,470 of those were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Although almost one percent is not a high rate, it is more than the 0.29 percent of the 62 million who still had their appendices but developed the nervous system disorder.
Scientists are not completely sure what the appendix has to do with the disease but the new study proposes that they are not the right track as they observe a certain protein.
Dr. Mohammed Sheriff said: “Recent research into the cause of Parkinson’s has centered around alpha synuclein, a protein found in the gastrointestinal tract early in the onset of Parkinson’s.
“This is why scientists around the world have been looking into the gastrointestinal tract, including the appendix, for evidence about the development of Parkinson’s.”
Clumps of alpha synuclein called Lewy bodies can only be seen after a patient’s death via autopsy in the brain.
In 2003, a team of scientists suggested that Parkinson’s might start not in the brain but in the gut as they had discovered similar protein clumps in the digestive tracts of dead patients.
Recent research suggested the appendix might have a purpose: helping to combat infection.
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