Grant: Why do we get Parkinson's disease?
Does Parkinson’s disease begin in the intestines? Clinical Professor and Consultant Per Borghammer from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital has received DKK 10 million to find an answer.
Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurological diseases with approx. 9,000 sufferers in Denmark. But at present, no one knows where and why Parkinson's disease begins.
Per Borghammer and his colleagues combine patient examinations using different types of scans with experiments in the laboratory. Here the researchers map the anatomical and physiological changes that take place in the body’s cells and tissue when the disease – at least in some cases – spreads from the intestines to the brain.
If the researchers from Aarhus University are able to show that Parkinson's disease begins in the intestines, it will be possible in the longer term to slow down or perhaps even stop the development of the disease by treating the intestinal nervous system with medicine or dietary supplements such as probiotics.
Contact
Clinical Professor, DMSc, PhD Per Borghammer
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Centre
Mobile: (+45) 2826 1039
Email: borghammer@clin.au.dk
See also New Aarhus professor is an expert in Parkinson's disease