Having Your Appendix Removed Significantly Lowers the Risk of Parkinson's Disease

By Nathaniel Scharping
Oct 31, 2018 6:27 PMMay 21, 2019 5:50 PM
Lewy Body
Photomicrograph of a region of the substantia nigra in a Parkinson's patient showing Lewy bodies. (Credit: Suraj Rajan/Wkimedia Commons)

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Having your appendix removed could lower the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease by 20 percent, says a team of researchers in a new study.

Using medical data from a large-scale Swedish database, a team led by scientists from the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, were able to tease out a connection between a condition that affects less than one percent of the population and an organ long assumed by researchers to be of little use. The find also sheds new light a complex disease that’s puzzled researchers for decades and could give doctors insights into how to help prevent the disease in people at higher risk.

The Complexity of Parkinson’s Disease

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