Bowel movement frequency in late-life and incidental Lewy bodies

It is not known if constipation is associated with the preclinical phase of Parkinson's disease (PD), often characterized by the presence of incidental Lewy bodies (ILB). Such an association could provide evidence that constipation is an early symptom of PD. The purpose of this report is to exa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Movement disorders 2007-08, Vol.22 (11), p.1581-1586
Main Authors: Abbott, Robert D., Ross, G. Webster, Petrovitch, Helen, Tanner, Caroline M., Davis, Daron G., Masaki, Kamal H., Launer, Lenore J., Curb, J. David, White, Lon R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Asian Americans
Biological and medical sciences
bowel movement
Brain - pathology
constipation
Constipation - epidemiology
Constipation - pathology
Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases
Hawaii - epidemiology
Humans
Incidence
Lewy Bodies - pathology
lewy body
Male
Medical sciences
Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis
Neurology
parkinson's disease
Postmortem Changes
preclinical
Retrospective Studies
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Summary:It is not known if constipation is associated with the preclinical phase of Parkinson's disease (PD), often characterized by the presence of incidental Lewy bodies (ILB). Such an association could provide evidence that constipation is an early symptom of PD. The purpose of this report is to examine the association between late‐life bowel movement frequency and ILB. Bowel movement frequency was assessed from 1991 to 1993 in 245 men aged 71 to 93 years in the Honolulu‐Asia Aging Study who later received postmortem examinations. All were without clinical PD and dementia. Brains were examined for ILB in the substantia nigra and locus ceruleus. Among the decedents, 30 men had ILB (12.2%). After age‐adjustment, the percent of brains with ILB declined with increasing bowel movement frequency (P = 0.013). For men with 1 bowel movement/day, corresponding percents were 24.1, 13.5, and 6.5%. Findings persisted after additional adjustment for time to death, mid‐life pack‐years of smoking and coffee intake, physical activity, and cognitive function. Infrequent bowel movements are associated with ILB. Findings provide evidence that constipation can predate the extrapyramidal signs of PD. Constipation could be one of the earliest markers of the beginning of PD processes. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society
ISSN:0885-3185
1531-8257
DOI:10.1002/mds.21560