SIBO, Leaky Gut, and Parkinson: A Potential Cycle

[Emanuelfrb]

Considering the gut-brain connection, has anyone tried to treat SIBO and leaking gut to help with the symptoms of PD? Please, share any results.

Hypothetical Process:

SIBO, Leaky Gut, and Parkinson: A Potential Cycle

These conditions are interconnected and can form a vicious cycle that worsens Parkinson’s disease:

1. SIBO leads to the production of bacterial toxins that damage the intestinal barrier.

2. This results in leaky gut, allowing these toxins and inflammatory agents to reach the enteric nervous system and the brain.

3. The chronic inflammation and oxidative stress generated promote the deposition of alpha-synuclein, triggering or worsening Parkinson’s.

4. Parkinson’s, in turn, affects intestinal motility, increasing the risk of SIBO and perpetuating the cycle.

[Boscoejean]

My husband had treatment for SIBO and GERD and now seems to be free of both of these with some beneficial results. After the treatment it is easier to eat meals without discomfort. This may have helped in other ways but he also does other things to help with Parkinson's symptoms and his symptoms are decreased from what they were about a year and a half ago and a little before that. It took some effort and the first medication was administered 2 times and was not effective but the second prescription medication seemed to work. Rifaxin was not helpful. Metronadazole was beneficial. He takes some supplements that are suggested to prevent recurrence. Endoscopy showed improvements after GERD was treated and GI doctor says for the time being no further endoscopies are needed. There is a supplement protocol that can help with GERD.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/169....

GI doctor suggested a probiotic and naturopath was the one who toldus about the protocol and another naturopath suggested the probiotic rhamnosus GG which is in a few digestive supplements.

[Emanuelfrb in reply to Boscoejean]

awesome! Have you ver heard about the Dr. William Davis protocol? It includes yogurt and herbal antibiotics to treat SIBO and irritavel bowel síndrome.

[Boscoejean in reply to Emanuelfrb]

He has taken dysbiocide and I have heard of the reuteri yogurt but have not made it yet. He does not eat wheat.

[Susan80 in reply to Emanuelfrb]

omg!! I just made the dr Davis yogurt ! It fermented (cooked for 36 hours). Put in fridge to cool and I am about to give it to my HWP soon! I am hopeful!!!

[Bracondale in reply to Boscoejean]

Thank you for that great reference! Really interesting .....and I note that many of the items support methylation, which of course is needed for neurotransmitter production.

[saraoutwest]

mastic gum cleared up my h pylori.

[Astronomer90 in reply to saraoutwest]

How much you were taking daily?

[Nikkiheat2]

Many things with my husband point to low potassium levels, including a leaky gut, He's been eating more potassium and magnesium rich foods and is doing better, though we've made other changes as well, so hard to say it was just one thing. However, getting enough potassium in the diet seems to help with many common symptoms of PD in addition to leaky gut, including dehydration, constipation and muscle stiffness. Related studies:

Low potassium disrupt intestinal barrier and result in bacterial translocation, translational-medicine.biom...

Potassium Channels: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Parkinson’s Disease, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articl...

[india245 in reply to Nikkiheat2]

What foods do you find to be best for increasing potassium levels please?

[pearlette in reply to india245]

The best food source of potassium is coconut water. Not coconut milk or cream. 3 times any other fruit juice.

[Esperanto in reply to india245]

The PD Mediterranean or MIND diet normally contains sufficient potassium. Here are the toppers with their estimated potassium content per 100 grams:

Bananas - 358 mg

Potatoes (with skin) - 425 mg

Sweet potatoes - 337 mg

Spinach (cooked) - 466 mg

Avocados - 485 mg

Tomatoes (raw) - 237 mg

Beans (cooked, such as kidney beans) - 405 mg of

Yogurt (plain, whole) - 150 mg

Salmon (cooked) - 628 mg

Almonds - 705 mg

Perhaps there are products that you can tolerate well, probably the biggest problem.

[Eryl in reply to Esperanto]

Bananas may be high in potassium but also very high in sugar which will do more harm than the good that the potassium does. Potatoes and beans are high in starch which is basically made from a bundle of glucose molecules so they won't do much good either

[Esperanto in reply to Eryl]

I respectfully disagree with the notion that bananas and starchy foods like potatoes and beans are inherently harmful. A diverse diet that includes these foods in moderation provides essential nutrients, including potassium, fiber, and vitamins. The key (for me) lies in balance and variety.

[Eryl in reply to Esperanto]

youtube.com/live/SCs82G85j_...

[SunnyMaui in reply to Eryl]

Look into foods high in resistant starch like sweet potatoes that heals your intestinal lining by boosting your levels of butyrate

health.clevelandclinic.org/...

And eating unripe bananas have less sugar and are an excellent prebiotic according to Dr Gundry.

[Nikkiheat2 in reply to india245]

I use the cronometer.com site to make sure my husband gets enough calories and nutrients, especially magnesium and potassium. For sides, we've been having more potatoes and sweet potatoes, instead of white rice or plain pasta. If I do make rice, I make it stir fried rice with some kind seeds and chopped veggies, like kale, for extra nutrition. I usually stir fry it in sesame oil and add sesame seeds, which may be helpful for PD, medicalxpress.com/news/2021.... For pasta, he seems to do better with the kind that is colored from dried veggies and enriched.

Prune juice seems to help him a lot. It is high in potassium and very absorbable because it is a liquid. PJ also increases urinary hippuric acid, which he was abnormally low in on testing. Fruit juice in general increases uric acid, which he was deficient in, so PJ really checks a few of the PD boxes. (Low UA has been associated with the risk of developing PD, and its progression and severity, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articl.... For those with constipation, prune juice is a natural remedy for that, health.harvard.edu/staying-...

One other thing I do is chop a lot of his food (I bought a small food chopper and stick blender on Amazon) or make sauces and purees, to maximize nutrient absorption for potassium and other nutrients, nutritionfacts.org/blog/how.... Stewed apples and pears with jujube dates, sometimes I add a bit of rum, also seem to help.

[Eryl]

SIBO is initially the result of an imbalanced gut microbiome often initiated by antibiotics. Part of the solution should be eating fermented foods to restore the missing bacteria one of which generates serotonin and lack of serotonin is a factor in PD. youtu.be/1FPKsx2YlaY?si=XQL...(Not working as expected?)

[Nikkiheat2 in reply to Eryl]

My husband find that buttermilk pancakes seem to be the most helpful fermented food for him. Yogurt and kimchi - not so much. At least one study on Pubmed showed buttermilk to be helpful for hydration, so that may be why it helps him. For him, hydrating foods seems to be key.

[Bracondale in reply to Eryl]

I understand that SIBO is also the result of a poorly functioning vagal nerve, which causes poor peristalsis (gut contractions/motility) and poor gall bladder function (so less bile) which will also affect peristalsis. Thiamine/vitamin B1 sufficiency is vital for vagus nerve function.

[RBan]

i’ve been thinking about this for a while and I’m starting to take colostrum in hope that it will clear up the gut issues. I have an article but I’m not able to post for some reason.

[pdbuzzboard]

not SIBO specific, but focused on increasing gut bio diversity, we have been using abdominal PEMF for about a year. It has had a noteworthy impact on overall GI health in general and constipation specifically. There are many studies on this. Here is a starting point. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/326...

[pearlette]

The reports of PD symptoms improving after they had doxycycline probably include a few who got rid of some unwanted bacteria

[WhyRBD]

Emanuel,

All the science is pointing to leaky gut as one of the possible root causes (in combination) of PD and LBD. The problem is you can not take a pill, chug a kefer or eat a yogurt and heal it in a few weeks. It took over a decade for the disorder to manifest so do not expect a short quick fix is out their. The best way I can help is to share my story breifly. Upon being diagnoised with iRBD in 11/19, I tested everything I could and that included gut sequensing using multiple companies and also testing short chain fatty acid production in the gut. Test results across the board showed I have a gut that profiled one with PD and I low production of SCFA and in particular BUTYRATE. The science shows low butyrate and low levels of bacteria that produce the SCFA's and butyrate are the cause of leaky gut. Now we know the cause, have the ability to measure, so we need a plan to rebuild. I did just that with a diet (lectin free - this stopped or slowed the progression of the disorder), probiotics (whole stack), prebiotics, suppliments, vitamins and exercise. After 4 years of suffering, my follow up gut sequencing shows a 180 degree change in my gut bacteria. I am now testing my SCFA levels to see their change in 4 years all while having eliminating my iRBD night time events. Over the past week my night time movments are half of what they use to be. Very very exciting times in my research. I still have to test my mold levels to see if I have been able to change as I have been supplimenting with l glutamine for the past 4 years. I do know you are looking at PD symptoms vs in my case iRBD symptoms, well I feel we are all on the same hill just different stages and all should experiece benefits if we are to fix what is leading to the decline in our health - we all have leaky gut and SIBO. I healed my SIBO all at the same time. No more baby belly. I definately would like to know of others out their who are getting regular gut sequencing and testing for SCFA's as these are the two most critical points of our intervents. I feel without them, one is shotting in the dark hoping to hit something.

[Emanuelfrb]

thank you for sharing your experience. Which type of sequencing you recommend?

[Cinnamon2024]

I found a probiotic called Neuralli with PS 128 healthy gut bacteria which had clinical studies show it helped restore gut and helped with PD symptoms. benedlife.com/blogs/news/th...; benedlife.com/blogs/news/pr...

It seems to have helped a bit.....

[Emanuelfrb in reply to Cinnamon2024]

Dr. William Davis recommends fermenting probiotics to multiply its benefits. Here's a video to understand the process. He uses l. Reuteri, but you may use these strains of PS 128. I will try a combination to my father using this combination plantago*, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Bifidobacterium e Streptococcu, (Lactobacillus rhamnosusGG, L. rhamnosus LC705, Bifidobacterium breveBb99 e Propionibacterium freudenreichii sp. Shermani.

Vídeo: youtu.be/la9yODLZizo?si=Zgc...(Not working as expected?)

[WhyRBD in reply to Cinnamon2024]

or you can use Bio Gaia as recommended by Dr Davis. My yogurts keep failing so I just take the tablets and capsuls as he recommends. Over all it took me 4 years to heal the gut and it was a lot more than a probiotic: Prebiotics, Diet, Probiotics, vitamins, Suppliments (Butyrate) and exercise. Running has definately be the key to managing constipation. No run no poop. I looked at PS128 but very expensive. Not sold on the value. Would like to see if anyone can contribute success to this insanely over priced probiotic. Regarding yogurt. I use a souv vide and temp between 100 and 102 for 24-36 hrs and it always seperates. Has anyone had this problem and resolved it?

[LorenzaS]

I have leaky gut and I have just booked a visit with a Gastroenterologist to check for SIBO. I am planning to do a Fecal Matter transplant to improve dysbiosis . Probiotics don’t seem to help much.

[arty-fact]

As part of a lifelong quest for the solution to my chronic constipation, I was diagnosed with methane sibo earlier this year. I took the long course of the 2 antibiotics and suffered through the bad bugs dying off period. Unfortunately, unlike the wholly positive experience of eradicating h pylori, for me the sibo journey has been an expensive failure, leaving me with even worse constipation than before the treatment.

Full disclosure- after traveling pretty well in for most of the 15 years since my dx, this year I have fallen into a hole. I’m now on 3 hourly multiple medications for Parkinson’s my gut is feeling terrible, the constipation is out of control and I’m at a loss of what to do next.

Sorry for being a negative Nelly. But my time, energy and resources are limited and with so many options competing to deliver the best quality of life treatment, for me sibo was a deep, dark dead end.

Good luck with everything