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New Test Can Detect the Parkinson’s in Its Early Stages
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have developed an accurate test for the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s. The new NIH test is a refinement of one that detects protein clumping involved in these disorders.
What are your thoughts on this news?
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2 Replies
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This is all very interesting BUT …
I’ve just had a quick look at the paper but it doesn’t seem clear what they mean by “early” — when neurologists think a patient has PD when …? when they’re exhibiting motor abnormalities? Sorry, but I personally wouldn’t call this early — we do know that in many cases patients can display non-motor symptoms up to a decade or more before they’re starting to be seen by a neurologist — shouldn’t this alternative time be called early instead? By the time people start seeing neurologists a lot of damage has already occurred. Shouldn’t we be prioritising other indicators or risk factors — eye movement tremors, or diabetes — the first a direct sign, the latter a highly significant (Hazard Ratio about 9) risk factor — combine the latter with a questionnaire measure of non-motor symptoms and we’d be doing well.
I’m happy for neurologists finally having a chemical test to “confirm” diagnoses but …
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PD diagnosis is so subjective, even diagnosing progression is subjective. We are left to our own devices… 🙁
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