Experts at the Oxford Parkinson's Disease Center (OPDC) have been able to use a highly sensitive method, called real-time α-synuclein conversion, to monitor the accumulation of alpha-synuclein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with Parkinson's disease.
The results give hope for a groundbreaking clinical test that can correctly diagnose Parkinson's disease in its early stages.
The bottom line is that the disease tends to develop gradually. It can take many months or even years before symptoms begin to show up noticeably enough to warrant seeking medical attention.
A test developed by experts has shown an 89 percent sensitivity for correctly identifying people with Parkinson's disease and a 96 percent sensitivity for correctly identifying people who do not have the disease, reports the journal Brain.