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Scientists Find Link Between Parkinson's Disease and the Appendix (gizmodo.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Scientists have found further evidence that the gut, or more specifically the appendix, might play a role in the development of Parkinson's disease. The international team of scientists reviewed two datasets, including a large registry from Sweden, and found that removal of the appendix was associated with a decreased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. They also found that the human appendix contains clumps of a protein called alpha-synuclein in a form associated with the disease. There's more work to be done, and the authors are not advocating that people preemptively remove their appendixes, but they hope that the research could provide a pathway towards treatment.
The study found that of the 1,144,745 Swedes who did not have appendectomies, 1,608 had Parkinson's, but of the 551,003 who had, only 644 had Parkinson's. This is amounts to a 16.9% decrease in the odds of acquiring the disease -- but in absolutes, that's the difference between an 0.14 percent chance of acquiring the disease for those who hadn't gotten their appendix removed versus an 0.11 percent chance for those who had. The effect was also stronger in those living in rural areas, according to the study published today in Science Translational Medicine. The researchers also found that for those who had appendectomies at least 30 years before developing Parkinson's, the procedure was associated with a 3.6-year delay in disease onset. The appendix samples contained alpha-synuclein proteins and shortened and mis-folded alpha-synucleins like the ones found in people with Parkinson's disease. Professor Viviane Labrie from the Cancer of Neurodegenerative Science at the Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan suggests that the alpha-synucleins "can travel up the nerve that connects the G.I. tract to the brain." She added: "If it were to enter the brain, it can seed and spread from there and have neurotoxic effects that could eventually lead to Parkinson's disease."
The study found that of the 1,144,745 Swedes who did not have appendectomies, 1,608 had Parkinson's, but of the 551,003 who had, only 644 had Parkinson's. This is amounts to a 16.9% decrease in the odds of acquiring the disease -- but in absolutes, that's the difference between an 0.14 percent chance of acquiring the disease for those who hadn't gotten their appendix removed versus an 0.11 percent chance for those who had. The effect was also stronger in those living in rural areas, according to the study published today in Science Translational Medicine. The researchers also found that for those who had appendectomies at least 30 years before developing Parkinson's, the procedure was associated with a 3.6-year delay in disease onset. The appendix samples contained alpha-synuclein proteins and shortened and mis-folded alpha-synucleins like the ones found in people with Parkinson's disease. Professor Viviane Labrie from the Cancer of Neurodegenerative Science at the Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan suggests that the alpha-synucleins "can travel up the nerve that connects the G.I. tract to the brain." She added: "If it were to enter the brain, it can seed and spread from there and have neurotoxic effects that could eventually lead to Parkinson's disease."
when you work backwards from your conclusion.
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"This study is interesting because we now suspect the appendix's purpose is to be a place where gut bacteria can go dormant and wait to re-seed the gut to maintain diversity."
It's been that way for at least 10-20 years, to my knowledge. I'm in no way a medical person, but that's always been the assumption whenever I've asked someone.
The problem here (and the entire problem of the appendix's bad reputation) appears to be that keeping a bunch of bacteria around isn't always the best thing either and things can go wrong. Evolutionarily speaking, sure, they are minor blips that'll be rode out over time. But when an appendix gets infected and bursts, you're gonna spew the nastiest possible bacteria store all over your sterile insides (not just your gut).
And keeping that stuff around give some things / byproducts a chance to creep up to the brain and contribute to Parkinson's by the looks of it.
It's interesting that all this stuff is hinted to be bacterial in origin... maybe people will start to revise their entire "anti-bacterial handwash every two seconds" policies.
Honestly, I've never known people quite so weak in constitution as those people who spend their lives bleaching their environment, sterilising their hands and spraying every surface (large cause of asthma, cleaning chemicals!). And it's not "correlative", it's "causative"... those people aren't bleaching everything BECAUSE they get ill easily, they don't start getting ill a lot until they start doing that as adults and then it affects even unrelated people who live with them too.
You're a being made up mostly of other living things. Those living things are always in combat with the same living things. Your white blood cells etc. are fighting with your own body (e.g. dead cells, cancerous cells, etc.) all day long every day. Your gut is literally attacking and consuming the food you eat and stopping it attacking your body (you only need to leave some food out in a sealed box for a few days to realise what's already in the food). And your appendix is basically bacteria central to call in reserves when your gut starts losing the battle (i.e. you're ill).