Test targets early Parkinson’s, dementia diagnoses in patients with Lewy bodies
Researchers have developed a test offering the possibility of improving early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
and dementia with Lewy bodies.
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Findings of the probe by National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists published in Acta Neuropathologica Communications outlined the testing of 60 cerebral spinal fluid samples, including 12 from people with Parkinson’s disease, 17 from those with dementia with Lewy bodies and 31 controls, 16 of whom had Alzheimer’s disease.
Authors said test results, which were available within two days compared to related examinations requiring up to 13 days, correctly excluded all the 31 controls and diagnosed both Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies with 93 percent accuracy.
Investigators said the work involved using Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC), which was
developed and refined over the past decade at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Rocky
Mountain Laboratories.
Parkinson’s disease is about 1,000 times more common than prion diseases, officials said, impacting up to one
million Americans, with 60,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
The Lewy Body Dementia Association said Lewy body dementia affects an estimated 1.4 million people.
NIH officials said early and accurate diagnoses of brain disorders is essential for developing treatments and
identifying patients eligible for clinical trials. The diseases typically progress for years before symptoms appear,
and once they do, distinguishing one disease from another can be difficult.
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I always say that we may have this illness, but we are all so different.
This is my own daily problems, but I would gladly share anyone elses, if they send them in,