A study conducted by the Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has discovered that analyzing gut microbiota can help identify individuals at high risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, allowing for early prevention, intervention, and treatment of Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative disorders. The research findings have been published in the international scientific journal Nature Communications.
Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), also known as dream-enacting behavior, is a common symptom during the prodromal stage of Parkinson’s disease.
In 2019, the Department of Psychiatry at CUHK conducted the world’s first RBD family study, which confirmed that relatives of RBD patients who are directly related to them have a three to six times higher chance of developing RBD, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders compared to the general population. Relatives of RBD patients also exhibit a significantly higher prevalence of constipation….