INTESTINES THE KEY TO PARKINSON'S?

CHICAGO, IL ( Ivanhoe Newswire) -- While a lot Parkinson's research is based on the brain, one study is focusing on an unexpected part of the body.

Richard Bailey can't play the guitar like he used to.

"I guess that's what you lose in Parkinson's is the automation," Richard told Ivanhoe.

He's taken part in several studies. The most recent was the most unusual.

"Well, it's the first time I've had a gastroenterology examine as part of a neurological exam so that was a bit of a surprise," Richard said.

Researchers at Rush University Medical Center have discovered a bad protein in the intestines that only shows up in Parkinson's patients.

 Doctor Kathleen Shannon says when the protein gets to the brain, Parkinson's symptoms appear.

"If you can detect it when it's just in the intestinal wall and then prevent the spread, then patients would never have to develop typical nervous system symptoms that can cause so much disability," Dr. Kathleen Shannon from Rush University Medical Center, explained.

Doctor Jeffrey Kordower hopes the protein turns out to be a biomarker.

"Maybe we'll be able to tell who gets Parkinson's before they get Parkinson's," Dr. Jeffrey Kordower, a neurology researcher at Rush University Medical Center, said.

The goal is to develop a screening process and a treatment that attacks the protein while it's still in the intestines. Richard hopes his role in the research means an end to Parkinson's.

Doctor Shannon says the initial pilot study was small so more research needs to be done. Right now, Rush University Medical Center is recruiting for further studies.