Early Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease: Breakthrough Skin Test Offers Hope

2023-12-24 09:41:48

A team of researchers led by neurologist Andrew Siderowf of the University of Pennsylvania developed a skin test last October that might diagnose Parkinson’s disease earlier in order to offer the patient the most appropriate treatment.

1. What is Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is a condition that affects the brain. It constitutes the second cause of motor disability in elderly people following stroke.

Parkinson’s disease can cause body tremors, muscle rigidity and other cognitive and mental disorders which can get worse over time. The cause of this degenerative pathology remains unknown to this day.

2. This study on Parkinson’s disease might help neurologists in early diagnosis

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 8.5 million people are affected by Parkinson’s disease worldwide. To date, this neurodegenerative pathology is usually diagnosed following the appearance of the first clinical signs, following the onset of neurological damage. As a result, this new test might allow health professionals to detect the disease earlier.

This is the use ofa skin test (αSyn-SAA) which would make it possible to visualize the accumulation of the alpha-synuclein protein (α-Syn) in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Parkinson’s disease. α-Syn is a biomarker already known to scientists but it was found in the brains of patients following their death.

Other studies have developed similar tests and new techniques to detect the disease, but the University of Pennsylvania researchers appear to have demonstrated the reliability of their biological invention.

This test might allow not only the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, whose symptoms can resemble those of other neurological diseases, but also to determine precisely what type of Parkinson’s disease the patient is suffering from, so as to offer him the most appropriate treatment. more adequate.

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