Low iron levels in hair are a sign of Parkinson's disease.
Signs of Parkinson's disease may be hidden in hair. This conclusion was reached by Chinese researchers who analyzed hair samples from 60 patients with this diagnosis and compared them with the indicators of healthy individuals of the same age. The work was published in the journal iScience.
In patients with Parkinson's disease, lower levels of iron and copper were found in their hair, along with elevated concentrations of manganese and arsenic. The most consistent difference was the decrease in iron levels. According to the authors, this indicator may have diagnostic potential, as hair can reflect long-term changes in the body, unlike blood or saliva.
Additional experiments on a mouse model showed that the decrease in iron in hair is associated with intestinal dysfunction. Animals with symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease exhibited weakened intestinal barrier function and altered activity of genes responsible for iron absorption. This supports the hypothesis of a close connection between the gut and the brain in neurodegenerative diseases.
The authors emphasize that the study is still preliminary and requires confirmation in larger samples. However, if the results are confirmed, in the future, early detection of Parkinson's disease may only require an analysis of a strand of hair.
