Parkinson’s disease is a devastating condition that progressively causes trouble with movement, mobility, and speech. But while Parkinson’s disease has long been considered a disease of the brain, a growing body of research suggests it may actually start in the gut.

People with a history of upper gastrointestinal (GI) damage have a 76% higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

A breakthrough in medical imaging is making it possible for researchers to observe brain activity during movement and pick up the early signs of disorders that affect brain-to-body coordination, such as Parkinson's disease.

In the puzzle that is Parkinson's disease, there are dueling camps: "brain-first" versus "gut-first." The former proposes that Parkinson's starts in the brain with the loss of dopamine-producing neurons ultimately linked to muscle stiffness and tremors.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the nervous system and different parts of the body that are controlled by the nerves. A new study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex found that people suffering from poor gut health for a long period may signal the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.