--- title: Parkinson's Disease Traced to Bacteria in Gut Microbiome description: Researchers have connected the good bacteria growing in the gut to the brain changes in Parkinson’s that leads to loss of motor control. canonical: https://time.com/4587498/parkinsons-disease-gut-bacteria/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-01T20:33:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:55.299Z article:section: Health og:title: Parkinson's Disease Traced to Bacteria In the Gut og:description: Researchers have connected the good bacteria growing in the gut to the brain changes in Parkinson’s that leads to loss of motor control. og:url: https://time.com/4587498/parkinsons-disease-gut-bacteria/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10ecc01063f25076/6988b048ab6d77064f6ac1db/gettyimages-950120421.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4800 og:image:height: 2700 og:image:alt: Mouse looking up in laboratory og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Parkinson's Disease Traced to Bacteria In the Gut twitter:description: Researchers have connected the good bacteria growing in the gut to the brain changes in Parkinson’s that leads to loss of motor control. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt10ecc01063f25076/6988b048ab6d77064f6ac1db/gettyimages-950120421.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Parkinson’s Disease May Be Traced to Gut Bacteria > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Taking Care: An Intimate Look At One Family's Life With Parkinsons [Watch (HLS stream): Taking Care: An Intimate Look At One Family's Life With Parkinsons](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tQQDED2R.m3u8) (3:16)  _Published 2014-11-18. In this installation of TIME's series on caregiving, photographer Abby Kraftowitz documents the Copeman family's experience with Parkinson's disease_  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2016 8:33 PM UTC  Adam Gault—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2016 8:33 PM UTC Doctors who take care of people with [Parkinson’s](http://time.com/4357520/muhammad-ali-dead-parkinsons-disease/) have long known that the brain changes associated with the disease also come with a number of physical changes, especially in the digestive system. Patients often complain of constipation or bloating, difficulty swallowing and indigestion. Often these symptoms start years before the loss of motor control, the hallmark of the disease. In a [new paper](http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674%2816%2931590-2) published in the journal _Cell_, researchers led by Sarkis Mazmanian of the California Institute of Technology may have an explanation for that connection. Working with mouse models of the brain disorder, they found that changes in gut microbes may play a role in triggering Parkinson’s. When he and his team transplanted fecal samples from people with Parkinson’s into the mice—which were raised in a germ-free setting and therefore not exposed to other bacteria or viruses—the animals’ Parkinson’s symptoms worsened. The same did not happen when the mice received samples from people without the disease. “What we extrapolate from that is that there is a microbial profile that is different in Parkinson’s,” says Mazmanian. “Perhaps those changes are contributing to disease; we’re a long way from proving that’s the case in humans, but at least in mouse models that’s what the data suggest.” Mazmanian has a list of about a dozen species of microbes that might be important in the disease; some are missing in the Parkinson’s patients, which may mean that they provide some protection against the neurodegenerative condition. Mazmanian has created a company, Axial Biotherapeutics, to research these species further as possible microbial treatments for brain diseases. That the state of the gut can affect the brain may at first sound unlikely, but Mazmanian points out that up to 70% of the neurons outside of the brain exist in the intestines. This network of nerves is connected to the brain via the vagus nerve, which connects everything from the chest, lungs and abdomen to the neck and larynx. Finding a possible bridge that links the gut and the brain in the form of microbes may, with more research, lead to new treatments for Parkinson’s. ## Transcript Before the disease took hold, now it seems like she was just a totally different person. My mother loved to dance. That was her favorite thing ever, she wanted to be a ballerina. [ LAUGH ] she enjoyed being with her family, she loved to cook, I don't know if she loves cleaning, but she was. Pretty intense about cleaning. [ MUSIC ] My name's Tammy Copeland, my mother's name is Eleanor, and she's in the advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease. My father and I are her primary caretakers. [ MUSIC ] in the beginning of the illness, sometimes you couldn't tell anything was wrong. And then as it progressed, I mean obviously people can tell things are wrong. The symptoms are very strange, they're on and off. So you have good days and bad. But you have dramatically different. Days dramatically different presentations of the illness scramble thinking, muscular rigidity. She's losing strength in her legs. Basically the ability to swallow is on and off. Has this changed my parents relationship at all? I would say [ MUSIC ] Yes, absolutely. The biggest challenge for my dad has been, I guess, switching roles. He has had to become the caretaker and he does, he does cooking, he does dressing. Physically taking care of someone with Parkinson's. Is very intense. You have to be on like 24 / 7. You have to watch her very closely because of falling risks, because of what she's dumping on the floor. She's turning, basically, into a baby with what she does. You know, I think it's just a whole different level of love. Loving your family. Thank God I read the book and expected it. I expected that there's gonna be a time that she doesn't know who I am. So I can be right here beside her, and she can be going, where's Tammy? And I'm like, I'm right here, Mom, I am Tammy. It's difficult and strange because you, again, never know what to expect. She definitely has quite a bit of awareness, which almost makes a devastating, horrific situation even more horrific. Emotionally, the hardest one is when she knows if, if she knows what's [ MUSIC ] Happening to her and when she's afraid of dying and she's basically telling you that. The majority of my time has been dedicated to helping with the care of my mother. I wanted her to have the best care, emotionally I guess i'm so close to my mother, it's hard for me not to be here at this point, this is. The most special thing you can do and, you know, who's more important than your mom. 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