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Parkinson’s disease causes parts of the brain to become damaged over time. This can lead to a wide range of both physical and psychological problems. Common symptoms associated with the disease include tremors, slow movement and stiff muscles.
Currently most people with the disease will not be diagnosed until they start displaying symptoms.
The best course of treatment will then be decided with options such as medication, physiotherapy and occupational therapy available.
In some cases, brain surgery will even be recommended.
However, this is all reliant on a diagnosis being made in the first place.
Now, new research has shown that it is possible to determine whether someone has or is at risk of Parkinson’s disease before symptoms appear.
The study, published in The Lancet Neurology, using a specific technique to identify abnormal protein deposits associated with Parkinson’s disease could help detect the disease earlier.
Findings from the study prove the effectiveness of the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay (known as SAA) test in accurately identifying if someone has Parkinson’s disease.
Scientists say the test could identify those who are at risk of developing the disease and those with initial non-motor symptoms, even before an official diagnosis.
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Previous trials have shown that the SAA test can successfully detect the protein but this was the first time a more comprehensive study involving a large group of carefully selected participants had been carried out.
As part of the new study, the team wanted to investigate if SAA could identify early signs of Parkinson’s disease and distinguish between different forms of this disease.
To do so they analysed more than 1,000 people with Parkinson’s disease or at risk of developing it.
In participants who did not have a known genetic cause of the disease, the test accurately identified the disease in 96 percent of cases, but among those with specific gene variants, the success rate varied.
Speaking to Medical News Today, lead study author Professor Claudio Soto, explained: “This study reported the largest analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of a technology we developed in the lab, termed seed amplification assay (SAA) to detect abnormal alpha-synuclein protein in patients affected by Parkinson’s disease.
“The main abnormality in these patients is the accumulation in the brain of an abnormal form of the alpha-synuclein protein, which becomes toxic and destroys neurons in the brain.
“In this study, we showed that traces of this abnormal protein can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid of Parkinson’s disease patients with a sensitivity and specificity over 90 percent.
“This means that the disease can be diagnosed by a simple biochemical test that can be performed in a live patient.
“Importantly, we were able to detect this marker years before the patients showed the disease.
“This is important because at this time the brain is not yet damaged extensively and can be much more easily be healed, perhaps even with simple lifestyle changes.”
He added: “This study describes the validation of a novel technique to accurately diagnose Parkinson’s disease using patients’ biological samples.
“For the first time, we have a way to identify the disease early on in an objective manner.”
Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include:
- Involuntary shaking of particular parts of the body (tremor)
- Slow movement
- Stiff and inflexible muscles
- Depression and anxiety
- Balance problems (this may increase the chances of a fall)
- Loss of sense of smell (anosmia)
- Problems sleeping (insomnia)
- Memory problems.
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