When a person with Parkinson's or a relative wants to find out about a possible disease, accompanying symptoms play a crucial role. These can affect different parts of the body, including skin, skeleton, sensory organs and psyche. The severity and occurrence of these symptoms vary from person to person, and it is important to note that some symptoms may have other causes.
In recent years, the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and similar neurodegenerative diseases has made significant progress. New diagnostic procedures such as skin biopsies and DaTscans have attracted the attention of researchers and medical professionals. But when are these tests really necessary, and what can they tell us about Parkinson's? In this article, we will address these questions and examine the role of these innovative diagnostic methods in more detail.
The core message:
The use of skin biopsies and DaTscans to diagnose Parkinson's is not necessary in all cases but should be carefully decided on an individual basis.
Japanese scientists have developed a new blood test that can detect Parkinson's with high accuracy.
The test works by detecting a specific protein called α-synuclein that is misfolded in these diseases.
Previous tests could also detect this protein, but they required an invasive method that involved taking a sample from the spinal cord (cerebrospinal fluid). This new test can detect the protein directly in the blood, making it much easier and less invasive.