(Nature) – Trials of treatments for Parkinson’s disease often show improvements of two or three points on the movement scale, but that doesn’t make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, he explains. Six points is clinically significant. “It’s quite something when you can achieve that.”

More research will be necessary to confirm the results and clarify who is most likely to benefit from the procedure and which microbes are most crucial to the treatment’s success. This knowledge could contribute to efforts already under way to develop small-molecule drugs that target pathways linking the disease to the gut. But even as opportunities for treatment begin to be revealed, scientists still don’t have a clear picture of how — or even whether — the gut microbiome actually contributes to Parkinson’s pathology. (Read More)