NEW YORK: A world-first blood test for Parkinson’s disease is being developed by Melbourne researchers in the hope it can identify sufferers sooner and can hold symptoms at bay.
A pilot trial of the La Trobe University discovery has been able to diagnose Parkinson’s disease with 95 per cent accuracy. The test may also be able to give an early warning of other neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s.
Chances for the blood test to one day be rolled out as a screening tests will be significantly boosted today with the announcement of financial backing from the Michael J Fox Foundation in the US.
A neurological examination after patients develop symptoms is how Parkinson’s is currently diagnosed.
But Professor Paul Fisher of La Trobe said the blood test could significantly improve their long-term outcome.
“By the time you develop clinical symptoms you have already lost a lot of cells in the critical regions of the brain, so it would be nice to prevent that from happening,” he said.
“You might be able to take preventive actions. There are some lifestyle things that may help, such as exercise. As we develop more effective treatments, you might be able to treat earlier and prevent the disease from developing.”
After isolating and multiplying white blood cells from people with Parkinson’s, La Trobe researchers found the cell activity levels were dramatically different to non-sufferers and a possible marker of the condition.
In an initial trial of 38 people, the white blood cells of 29 Parkinson’s patients were four times more active than those of the nine people in the control group, as measured by their consumption of oxygen.
The hyperactive cells are constant regardless of how old patients are or how recently their symptoms began, raising the prospect that the test will be able to diagnose the disease years before damage occurs…