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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

12-week trial in 46 people with Parkinson's and constipation found more bowel movements

Du and colleagues · Parkinsonism & related disorders · 2022

Original title: Probiotics for constipation and gut microbiota in Parkinson's disease.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

Complete bowel movements per week rose more with probiotics (1.09 ± 1.24 vs. 0.04 ± 0.64, P < 0.001). Constipation improved in 52.2% vs 8.7% of the control group (P = 0.001).

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
46 people · 46 people with Parkinson's disease and constipation
What was tested
A probiotic supplement vs a control group for 12 weeks (strain not named in the abstract)
What it measured
The question itself: gut symptoms such as bloating, pain and irregular bowels
How long
12 weeks
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed.
Journal
Parkinsonism & related disorders, 2022
Source
PubMed record 36087572. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Randomized: people were put into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike.
  • –Small: 46 people. Small trials can miss real effects or find chance ones.
  • •Lasted 12 weeks.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: gut symptoms such as bloating, pain and irregular bowels.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: gut symptoms such as bloating and IBS

    9

    5 benefit, 2 mixed, 2 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    10

    4 benefit, 2 mixed, 4 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Do probiotics improve gut health?”

Some strains may help some symptoms.

Confidence: low. Based on 28 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 8 papers on the same step: 4 benefit, 2 mixed, 2 no difference. This one found benefit.

Other papers on the same step

See all 28 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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