Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.

Use escape to exit the menu.

A new study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, along with Oslo University Hospital in Norway, may have discovered a way to detect biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease in the blood up to decades earlier.

In the very early stages of the disease, the body goes through changes related to DNA repair and stress in cells. These changes leave detectable clues in the blood before major brain damage occurs, according to a press release for the study.

This could allow for early detection of Parkinson’s, when treatments might have a better chance of slowing or preventing serious damage.

NEW VITAMIN COMPOUND SHOWS PROMISE FOR REVERSING ALZHEIMER’S DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN

The processes of DNA repair and cellular stress response can occur for up to 20 years in Parkinson’s patients before motor symptoms fully develop, according to the researchers.

The team used machine learning to discover patterns linked to these processes, which were not found in healthy individuals or patients who were already diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

Annikka Polster, assistant professor at the Department of Life Sciences at Chalmers who led the study, suggested in a statement that the study has found an “important window of opportunity” in which the disease can be detected “before motor symptoms caused by nerve damage in the brain appear.”

“The fact that these patterns only show at an early stage and are no longer activated when the disease has progressed further also makes it interesting to focus on the mechanisms to find future treatments,” she added.

‘HARMLESS’ VIRUS FOUND LURKING IN PARKINSON’S PATIENTS’ BRAINS, NEW STUDY SHOWS

Polster confirmed that the study highlighted biomarkers that “likely reflect some of the early biology of the disease,” which “paves the way for broad screening tests via blood samples: a cost-effective, easily accessible method.”

The findings were published in npj Parkinson’s Disease.

The researchers plan to further develop tools to more easily detect these active mechanisms and understand how they work, according to the university.

The team predicts that, within five years, blood tests for early Parkinson’s diagnoses could become more common within clinical practice. They are also optimistic about the development of new drugs to prevent or treat the disease.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“If we can study the mechanisms as they happen, it could provide important keys to understanding how they can be stopped and which drugs might be effective,” Polster said. 

“This may involve new drugs, but also drug repurposing, where we can use drugs developed for diseases other than Parkinson’s because the same gene activities or mechanisms are active.”

Study limitations  

The researchers acknowledged that the study had some limitations, including that the gene activity measured in the blood only partly matches what’s happening in the brain.

External factors, such as medication use, may have affected the results, they added.

Also, the study population may not represent all people, so findings may not apply broadly.

By the numbers

More than 10 million people around the world are estimated to be living with Parkinson’s disease, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. About 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed each year.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Numbers are expected to continue rising because Parkinson’s is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s.

While research is advancing, there is no cure for the disease, although medications are available to manage symptoms.

Common motor symptoms include tremors, slowed movement, muscle stiffness, balance and walking difficulties, a shuffling gait and freezing episodes. 

Non-motor symptoms include loss of smell, sleep problems, constipation, fatigue, depression or anxiety, speech and swallowing changes, cognitive slowing and reduced facial expression, according to Parkinson’s Foundation and Mayo Clinic.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Danish Anwer, a doctoral student at the Department of Life Sciences at Chalmers and the study’s first author, detailed in a statement how Parkinson’s affects the brain.

“By the time the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease appear, 50% to 80% of the relevant brain cells are often already damaged or gone,” he said. “The study is an important step toward facilitating early identification of the disease and counteracting its progression before it has gone this far.”

“By the time you have actual motor symptoms … a large majority of affected cells have been damaged and destroyed.”

Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel agreed that Parkinson’s is a “very difficult disease” with an increasing global impact.

“By the time you have actual motor symptoms affecting gait, tremor, etc., a large majority of affected cells have been damaged and destroyed,” he told Fox News Digital.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

Siegel called the new research “exciting,” suggesting that it “opens the door for earlier and more effective diagnosis and treatment.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the study authors for comment.

Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera on Thursday declared a disaster emergency for a massive outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Weld County north of Denver.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) told local outlet FOX31 News there was a presumptive positive test for HPAI, also known as the bird flu, at an egg laying facility in the county.

CDA officials told the outlet dead chickens are being tested at the facility, which is home to 1.3 million chickens, due to an “elevated mortality report.”

It is unclear how many birds are potentially infected.

GOV ABBOTT ISSUES DISASTER DECLARATION TO PREVENT SCREWWORM FLY INFESTATION FROM SPREADING INTO TEXAS

HPAI was first detected in the U.S. in February 2022, impacting wild birds and poultry.

Records released by the CDA show there was a rash of outbreaks in Weld County in July 2024, affecting three commercial poultry facilities housing a total of nearly 3.4 million chickens.

Though the names of the businesses are not public, one of the affected facilities reported having 1,313,800 chickens.

DEAD BIRDS ON FLORIDA BEACHES HAVE EXPERTS WORRIED ABOUT AVIAN FLU

It is unclear if that facility is the same facility potentially affected in the latest outbreak.

The state’s declaration activates the State Emergency Operations Plan and directs the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to take all necessary and appropriate actions to assist the affected jurisdictions with their response, recovery and mitigation efforts. 

The action also authorizes the use of disaster emergency funds and allows the OEM to mobilize state resources, make contracts and awards using emergency procurement procedures and encumber and expend funds as determined by the director of the OEM.

At the time of the declaration, Primavera was acting as governor; Gov. Jared Polis was in Washington, D.C., attending a Colorado River negotiation meeting.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The governor’s office said the decision was made in coordination with Polis.