Parkinson’s can be a tough disease to diagnose. Typically the disease isn’t detected until physical symptoms, like body twitches, appear. In some cases brain and body scans can give doctors a hint the disease is lurking in the body, but it’s rare. Now, researchers in the United Kingdom believe they have developed a blood test that could diagnose the disease.
How it could help
“A blood test for Parkinson’s disease would mean you could find out if a person was in danger of getting the disease, before the symptoms started,” said David Allsop, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences and the School of Health and Medicine at the University of Lancaster, in Lancaster, UK. “This would help the development of medicines that could protect the brain, which would be better for the quality of life and future health of older people.”
How the test works
Researchers studied two groups of people, one with Parkinson’s disease and one without. Blood samples from each group were examined, and scientists found those with the disease had substance called “phosphorylated alpha-synuclein” in their blood. After making this discovery, researchers created a blood test to check for the substance.
“When most people think of Parkinson’s disease, they think of the outward symptoms, such as involuntary movements,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal, “but many people with Parkinson’s also develop neurological problems that may be more difficult to detect right away. Having a blood test not only helps doctors rule out other possible causes of the outward symptoms, but it also allows for early detection which can help patients and their caregivers prepare for the possibility of the mental, emotional, and behavioral problems that the disease can cause.”
More about Parkinson’s disease
The disease has become more well known because of actor and advocate Michael J Fox, however, the disease effects as many as one million Americans. Approximately 60,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year in the U.S., according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.
