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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."
Nothing!
The numbers are so miniscule it is not even worth discussing. It's equivalent to my buying two lottery tickets instead of one.
Caution: Contents under pressure
So the purpose of the appendix is to increase your risk of Parkinson's Disease? I'm not convinced.
"Slashdot recommends unnecessary surgery to avoid Parkinson's Disease"
So adter decades and decades of work people figured out Ulcers were bacterial not a defect in proteins coating the stomach walls.. Very recently it came to light that Alzheimers may be a viral or bacterial infection and the amyloid plaques actually are a defense mechanism. WHich explains why all the anti-amaloid drugs failed.
Amaloids come from a kind of protein misfolding.
Now they are attributing parkinsons to misfolded protein.
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. In the age of antibiotics and the rise of c. Difficile the appendix reseed may have become more important. THose infections are now treated with fecal transplants.
So appexicies harbor "good" bacteria. Perhaps the misfolded proteins their are their to keep them alive and dormant or to knock down the infection by bad bacteria (appendicitis). Perhaps it is the bacteria migrating to the brain that is brining along the misfolded proteins.
Just saying this sounds like "here we go again" when it comes to blaming the proteins for a bacterial problem. But maybe they are right. THe thing is, and the clue to the other two cases,was asking why didn't those bad proteins get evolved away. The appendix is not only in other species but it has been independently evolved in multiple species. It's there for some damn good reason and so are the proteins screted there.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
The one thing that we can deduce from this study is that 100% of the people that had appendectomies don't have an appendix anymore.
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Together we can change the world, just one random act of kindness at a time. -- Ron Hall
What is not a different discussion is that your "Creator", if existent, bears full, unlimited responsibility for the result. With unlimited power comes unlimited responsibility. And do not give me this "works in mysterious ways" crap. There really is only a choice between "fuckup" and "asshole" here.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
There appears to be a strong positive correlation between people who vote for Trump and people who have their heads up their ass.
Just sayin'.
Have also noticed over the last decade or so that there's a strong correlation between parties adopting smug, condescending, holier-than-though opinions of the superiority of themselves and their party ... and losing nearly a thousand legislative seats, most of the governorships, both houses of congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, and the good will of millions of two-time Obama voters who turned their backs on their former default party exactly, specifically because of people like you. Ever noticed that?
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
I'd argue that we are living outside what we were designed for.
By designed, I mean our technology has advanced far in excess of evolution and natural selection. We have not had nearly enough time to adapt to the environment that we ourselves created. Natural selection is a joke in first world countries considering that we can keep the braindead alive, so that isn't helping either.
We're rapidly outgrowing our fish tank, and I think the only (somewhat) lasting solution will be genetic modification or one seriously huge culling of the population, both of which are pretty disturbing.
I'm pretty sure this underlines the fact that humans were not designed by some intelligent superbeing in the sky.
I'm honestly not sure how you draw that conclusion at all. Many religious people believe that there is a purpose behind these sorts of things. That they are opportunities to learn and grow. Children certainly do not grow as individuals when they have every problem in life solved for them.
That's not a very useful definition of the word "good" for most of us. We want a definition for which "good" actions are actions we should take. For example, flooding the earth, wiping out almost every human and almost every land animal is not something we want to encourage people to do, so we don't want to label it "good". Even if you could find a way to argue that it was the lesser of two evils, we would still want to label it an evil. It sets a really bad example otherwise.
If we start removing appendices, there won't be any place in the medical books to list the connection to Parkinson's!
I'm pretty sure this underlines the fact that humans were not designed by some intelligent superbeing in the sky.
What an odd conclusion.
Starting with the fact that we've had fallible bodies throughout history, and it didn't lead most people that conclusion. It's not like we just discovered that bodies are fallible or in some ways non-optimal.
Usually you folks just think that you've discovered war or natural disasters, as though the ancients had never heard of such things and that's why they had such crazy theories. Now you think you've discovered aging or disease?
Those prone to appendicitis be less susceptible to Parkinsons for the same reason they suffer appendicitis in the first place. There are know genetic factors in the predisposition to both diseases.
Could there be some other environmental cause? Pesticides and herbicides exposure is a known risk factor in Parkinsons.
Appendectomy is know to slow peoples recovery after bouts of food poisoning, because their gut flora recovers more slowly. The Appendix is known to be a reservoir of these.
I like to see how this compared with non-surgical intervention for appendicitis, which was reported recently as as gaining favour for that latter reason.
It is grounds for further investigation.
Furthermore the researchers do not claim it is.
Strawman cliches are not +1 insightful.
Very recently it came to light that Alzheimers may be a viral or bacterial infection and the amyloid plaques actually are a defense mechanism.
That possibility is NOT a recent revelation. We have no evidence of a specific pathogen but that's been on the list of possible causes for a long time. More than a few types of cancer are caused by viruses and many other diseases we don't normally associate with viruses or bacteria. My wife is a pathologist and she's spoken about this very topic to me 20 years ago. It wouldn't at all be shocking if some or even all Alzheimer's turned out to be caused by a pathogen. We just don't have strong evidence currently to support that hypothesis though perhaps there has been some recent data that I'm not aware of. (obviously i'm not an expert)
THe thing is, and the clue to the other two cases,was asking why didn't those bad proteins get evolved away.
For there to be an evolutionary pressure it needs to have an effect on reproduction. Lot's of diseases don't affect anyone until after they have passed the age where they would spawn offspring so there is no direct mechanism to remove the proteins from the gene pool.
It's as if a million mics were held out and suddenly all were dropped...