Health
Early Parkinson’s could be detected decades before symptoms with simple blood test
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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.
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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.
European researchers discovered a way to detect early Parkinson’s disease via a blood test. (iStock)
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.
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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.
Blood tests for early Parkinson’s diagnosis could become more common, researchers predicted. (iStock)
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.
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“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.”
More than 10 million people around the world are estimated to be living with Parkinson’s disease. (iStock)
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.
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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 of Parkinson’s include tremors, slowed movement, muscle stiffness, balance and walking difficulties. (iStock)
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.
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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.
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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.
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Stat of the week
More than 59% of women may have high blood pressure by 2050, according to a new report from the American Heart Association.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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