Dietary intake of Parkinson's disease patients

What is it about?

Parkinson's disease patients often not only suffer from motor symptoms, but also from different non-motor symptoms, including various gastrointestinal complaints. Our findings provide a better insight into the dietary habits of Parkinson's patients and therefore indicates different targets for dietary management as an adjuvant therapy in Parkinson’s disease. Fiber intake in our research population was remarkable higher than in the general population, indicating that higher fiber intakes in Parkinson's disease patients could be reached. The higher fiber intake could result in beneficial gastrointestinal effects. Our data shows that the recommendations regarding medication intake are often not followed, consequently there is a task for pharmacists to provide information on when the medication should be taken.

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Why is it important?

This study provides evidence that attention for the dietary pattern is key for an optimal dietary management in Parkinson's disease. Our results show that monitoring dietary intake in Parkinson's patients is of importance to detect possible micronutrient insufficiencies. Furthermore, we provided evidence that there is room for improvement regarding medication taking behavior in Parkinson's patients.

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