--- 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 video:duration: 03:16 video:published: 2014-11-18 section: health topics: Parkinson's disease, caregiving, family relationships, dementia-related memory loss, daily care demands, role reversal, emotional toll of illness, end-of-life awareness genre: documentary, personal testimony tones: intimate, somber, loving, candid, reflective emotions: sadness (high), love (high), fear (medium), exhaustion (medium), nostalgia (low) sentiment: negative audience: caregivers, families of Parkinson's patients, health readers, people interested in caregiving people: Tammy Copeland, Eleanor Copeland content_suitability: health controversy [00:53-01:05]; death [02:36-02:47]; health controversy [01:39-01:52] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Parkinson’s Disease May Be Traced to Gut Bacteria > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=f2d095f7-c1ef-432f-97c3-f2717be148aa&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## 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_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Tammy Copeland describes caring for her mother Eleanor, who is in the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease, with her father. She explains how the illness's fluctuating symptoms, the physical demands of 24/7 care, and the reversal of roles have affected her family. She also describes her mother's emotional awareness of her condition and her own motivation to provide the best care possible. ## Key points - Eleanor loved dancing, wanted to be a ballerina, enjoyed cooking and being with her family, and was intense about cleaning. (00:01) - Tammy Copeland and her father are Eleanor's primary caretakers, and Eleanor is in the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease. (00:29) - Early in the illness, sometimes nothing was visibly wrong, but as it progressed, people could tell something was wrong. (00:43) - Parkinson's symptoms are on and off, producing good days and bad days, with scrambled thinking, muscular rigidity, leg weakness, and intermittent swallowing difficulty. (00:53) - Tammy says her father has had to switch roles and become the caretaker, doing cooking and dressing. (01:22) - Caring for someone with Parkinson's requires being on 24/7, watching closely for falls and for what Eleanor drops on the floor. (01:39) - Tammy says she expected that Eleanor might one day not recognize her, after reading the book about the disease. (02:03) - Tammy says the hardest emotional moment is when Eleanor knows what is happening to her and is afraid of dying. (02:36) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:29] Eleanor's life before the illness. Tammy recalls her mother's personality and interests before Parkinson's took hold. - [00:29 to 01:22] Introducing the illness and caregivers. Tammy identifies her mother's condition, the caregivers, and how symptoms have varied over time. - [01:22 to 02:03] Changed roles and daily care demands. Tammy describes her father's shift into the caretaker role and the intense daily demands of care. - [02:03 to 02:40] Facing memory loss and awareness. Tammy discusses anticipating memory loss and the painful awareness her mother still has. - [02:40 to 03:16] Motivation behind caregiving. Tammy explains her emotional closeness to her mother and why caring for her is important to her. ## Key quotes - [00:07] Tammy Copeland: "My mother loved to dance. That was her favorite thing ever, she wanted to be a ballerina." - [01:22] Tammy Copeland: "The biggest challenge for my dad has been, I guess, switching roles." - [01:39] Tammy Copeland: "Physically taking care of someone with Parkinson's. Is very intense." - [02:03] Tammy Copeland: "I expected that there's gonna be a time that she doesn't know who I am." - [02:36] Tammy Copeland: "Emotionally, the hardest one is when she knows if, if she knows" ## Questions this video answers - What is Eleanor Copeland's medical condition? [00:29] - Who provides the primary care for Eleanor? [00:29] - How has caring for Eleanor changed her husband's role in the family? [01:18] - What does the daily physical care of someone with Parkinson's involve? [01:39] - What is the most emotionally difficult part of caring for Eleanor, according to Tammy? [02:36] - Why does Tammy say she is dedicating her time to caring for her mother? [02:52] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:53-01:05]: Describes progressive, severe neurological symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including rigidity, leg weakness, and swallowing difficulty. - death [02:36-02:47]: Mentions the patient being afraid of dying. - health controversy [01:39-01:52]: Describes intense, around-the-clock caregiving demands and falling risks.  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 [00:01] Before the disease took hold, now it seems like she [00:03] was just a totally different person. My mother loved to [00:07] dance. That was her favorite thing ever, she wanted to [00:11] be a ballerina. [ LAUGH ] she enjoyed being with her [00:15] family, she loved to cook, I don't know if she loves [00:18] cleaning, but she was. Pretty intense about cleaning. [00:21] [ MUSIC ] [00:29] My name's Tammy Copeland, my mother's name is [00:32] Eleanor, and she's in the advanced stages of [00:36] Parkinson's Disease. My father and I are her primary [00:39] caretakers. [ MUSIC ] in the beginning of the illness, [00:43] sometimes you couldn't tell anything was wrong. And [00:46] then as it progressed, I mean obviously people can tell [00:49] things are wrong. The symptoms are very strange, [00:53] they're on and off. So you have good days and bad. [00:56] But you have dramatically different. Days dramatically [01:01] different presentations of the illness scramble thinking, [01:05] muscular rigidity. She's losing strength in her legs. [01:09] Basically the ability to swallow is on and off. Has [01:15] this changed my parents relationship at all? I would say [01:18] [ MUSIC ] Yes, absolutely. The biggest challenge for [01:22] my dad has been, I guess, switching roles. [01:27] He has had to become the caretaker and he does, he [01:31] does cooking, he does dressing. Physically [01:35] taking care of someone with Parkinson's. Is very [01:39] intense. You have to be on like 24 / 7. You [01:44] have to watch her very closely because of falling [01:48] risks, because of what she's dumping on the floor. [01:52] She's turning, basically, into a baby with what she [01:55] does. You know, I think it's just a whole different level [01:59] of love. Loving your family. Thank God [02:03] I read the book and expected it. I expected [02:07] that there's gonna be a time that she doesn't know [02:10] who I am. So I can be right here beside her, and [02:14] she can be going, where's Tammy? And I'm like, I'm [02:17] right here, Mom, I am Tammy. It's difficult and strange [02:22] because you, again, never know what to expect. She [02:25] definitely has quite a bit of awareness, which almost [02:29] makes a devastating, horrific situation even more [02:33] horrific. Emotionally, the hardest one is when she [02:36] knows if, if she knows [02:40] what's [ MUSIC ] Happening to her and when she's [02:43] afraid of dying and she's basically telling you that. The [02:47] majority of my time has been dedicated to helping [02:52] with the care of my mother. I wanted her to have the [02:54] best care, emotionally I guess i'm so close to my [02:58] mother, it's hard for me not to be here at this point, [03:02] this is. The most special thing you can do [03:06] and, you know, who's more important than your mom. 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