It’s been known for a long time that Parkinson’s disease is a condition that arises in the brain. Certain nerve cells in the brain begin to break down, and levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, drop, resulting in coordination difficulties, muscle stiffness, changes in speech, and the tremor that is the disease’s signature symptom. But now there is growing evidence that this brain disease may actually begin nowhere near the brain. New research has linked an organ long believed to be useless to the development of Parkinson’s.
 
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