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In a study, which studied nearly 7,000 men over 24 years, those who had less than one bowel movement a day on average were almost three times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than men with one bowel movement a day.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that causes tremor, muscle rigidity, and movement problems. Constipation affects up to 80 percent of patients with Parkinson's disease. However the study is the first to show that constipation may occur before other symptoms of the neurological disorder begin.

Men who had less than one bowel movement a day were 2.7 times more likely to develop Parkinson's than men with an average of one bowel movement per day. When compared with men who had two or more bowel movements per day, their risk was four times greater.

The link between constipation and Parkinson's remained even after the researchers accounted for factors that could affect Parkinson's risk or gastrointestinal health such as age, smoking, coffee drinking, laxative use, diet, and exercise.

Normal bowel movements, however, vary among individuals. While the study defined constipation as less than one bowel movement a day, this pattern does not necessarily mean a person suffers from constipation. Nevertheless, the study did find a connection between bowel movement patterns and Parkinson's, which could help in understanding the early stages of the neurological disorder.

According to Abbott, some research has suggested that some of the processes that affect Parkinson's disease may also affect the activity of the colon--which could shed some light on the current findings.

Neurology (2001;57:456-462) noted that the researchers' findings are based on information collected from 6,790 men with an average age of 60 at the start of the study. Over 24 years, 96 men were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Information provided is courtesy of and compiled by the Academy of Anti-Aging Research.