Parkinson’s test shows promise for earlier diagnoses

Written by Louise White

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh (UK) have developed a test to detect alpha-synuclein, a protein molecule that forms the Lewy bodies that are characteristic of Parkinson’s disease and some types of dementia. Previous attempts to develop a test for detecting this protein have produced inconsistent results as the protein is also found in healthy brain cells – the adverse effects of the molecule only occur when the proteins clump together. The new test is described in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. In order to identify the diseased state of the protein, the study group utilized a highly sensitive...

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