Blood test may aid early detection of Parkinson’s and guide treatment strategies

To date Parkinson’s disease (PD) is diagnosed clinically and rather late in the course of the disease. There is an urgent need to find an objective, quantifiable biomarker for the diagnosis of this highly prevalent movement disorder. Researchers have now found initial evidence that a blood test to detect the alpha-synuclein protein is a viable, less invasive option to diagnose PD. The study appears in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, published by IOS Press, now part of Sage.