A few years ago early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease was unheard of, diagnosis mostly came when the shaking and tremors started and for many it took months to figure out what the shaking and tremors were all about. Today, thanks to technology and medical research, we are able to diagnose Parkinson’s disease sooner and help slow the progression of it.
Recent research has suggested that there may be a number of ways to catch Parkinson’s disease at its onset or earliest stages. One way that Parkinson’s disease may be caught early is through a smell test. Some research suggests that the symptoms of late stage Parkinson’s is preceded by loss of smelling power. The smell test tests for 40 common odors and has been used to detect the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders.
People with a normal sense of smell who take the test can usually identify around 35 odors correctly. Parkinson’s patients typically can only identify 20 or less.
Another test that has received a lot of press as of late is a blood test that can possibly diagnose Parkinson’s disease. The makers of the blood test also claim that the test can diagnose whether a person may have Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or if they are disease free.
Today I learned of another way that researchers can possibly diagnose Parkinson’s earlier and that’s through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Magnetic resonance imaging is different from computed tomography scan (CT scan). A CT scan uses ionizing radiation while magnetic resonance uses radio waves to change the magnetic alignment causing the hydrogen atoms in a persons body to produce a rotating magnetic field detectable by the scanner. The signals created by this process build-up enough information to create an image of the body.
MRIs enable medical professionals to view the white matter–the nerves that are message transporters to various parts of the brain–and grey matter which receives and interprets those messages. Researchers noticed that those who had Parkinson’s disease showed reduced grey matter compared to those who didn’t have Parkinson’s disease.
Many of these diagnostic tests are in their early stages and there are still evaluations that need to go on, but we’ll keep you updated to the progress of these tests.
