Objective: To compare the knowledge of vegetables and fruits for treating constipation between PD and non-PD patients with constipation.

Background: Constipation is a common non-motor symptom in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Laxatives are symptomatic treatment. Other factors that help to relieve constipation are sufficient fluid intake, coffee drinking, exercise, and consuming many vegetables and fruits to increase fiber in diets. In Thai traditional medicine textbooks and websites, some vegetables and fruits are documented to be effective in constipation relief. However, there has yet to be a report on whether or not Thai people know about this issue.

Method: This descriptive study was conducted between January and December 2019. Questionnaires of Thai vegetables and fruits were binary: know or do not know. PD patients were from the neurology clinics, and non-PD patients with constipation were from the gastrointestinal clinics of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn medical center, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand.

Results: One hundred and seventeen volunteers were included, 67 (57.27%) in the PD group and 50 (42.73%) in the Non-PD group. All of the volunteers had experienced constipation. The mean age of the PD and the non-PD groups was 71.38 and 65.10 years, respectively. Two patients from the PD group with H&Y stages 4 and 5 needed caregivers to support them during the questionnaires. Seventeen names of local vegetables and fruits available in Thailand and commonly consumed in the rural areas of the East were included in the questionnaires. There were zucchini, morning glory, garlic chives, lotus stem, Chinese bitter gourd, climbing wattle, yardlong beans, bitter gourd/balsam apple, lady’s finger, roselle, cassia, tamarind, banana, papaya, orange/ pomelo, mangosteen, star gooseberry. The laxative effect of zucchini, bitter gourd, bitter cucumber, and climbing wattle was well-known in non-PD patients (p<0.05). On the other hand, PD patients knew that cassia is effective for constipation (p=0.049).

Conclusion: This study showed that non-PD patients with constipation knew the kinds of Thai vegetables and fruits that are good for constipation, while some PD patients with constipation do not. Thus, PD patients might only eat them occasionally and took an insufficient fiber diet. An education on the laxative effect of local vegetables based on information from traditional Thai medicine should be considered.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/vegetables-and-fruits-to-relieve-constipation-do-parkinsons-disease-patients-know-them/