Parkinson's blood test gives early-diagnosis hope

A simple blood test using artificial intelligence to predict Parkinson's disease years before symptoms begin has been developed by researchers.

They hope it can lead to a cheap, finger-prick test providing early diagnoses - and help find treatments to slow down the disease.

Charity Parkinson's UK said it was "a major step forward" in the search for a non-invasive patient-friendly test, but larger trials are needed to prove its accuracy.

“At present we are shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted," senior author Prof Kevin Mills, from UCL's Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said.

"We need to start experimental treatments before patients develop symptoms."

Co-author Dr Jenny Hällqvist, from UCL, said: "People are diagnosed when neurons are already lost.

"We need to protect those neurons, not wait till they are gone."

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Source: BBC News, 18 June 2024