Early Detection of Parkinson’s Disease Possible 30 Years Before Onset of Symptoms, Scientists Find

Researchers at The Florey and Austin Health in Melbourne, Australia, have demonstrated the potential to identify early indicators of Parkinson’s disease 20 to 30 years before the onset of symptoms. This breakthrough paves the way for early screening programs and intervention, potentially allowing treatment before significant damage occurs.

Researchers at the Florey Institute and Austin Health have demonstrated the possibility of identifying early indicators of Parkinson’s disease 20 to 30 years before the onset of symptoms. This breakthrough paves the way for early screening efforts and preventive treatment, long before permanent damage occurs.

Florey Professor Kevin Burnham said that although Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating neurodegenerative disease, is often thought of as a disease of the elderly, it actually begins in midlife and can last for decades. He said it may not be detected.

“Parkinson’s disease is very difficult to diagnose until symptoms become apparent, by which time up to 85 percent of the neurons in the brain that control motor coordination have been destroyed. At that point, many treatments are likely to be ineffective,” Professor Burnham said. “Our long-term goal is to find ways to detect diseases earlier and treat people before they cause harm.”

Advanced diagnostic technology

In a recently published study, neurologylead researcher Professor Burnham and colleagues explore how a known biomarker called F-AV-133 can be used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans to diagnose Parkinson’s disease and accurately track neurodegeneration. I’m explaining how it can be done.

In the Melbourne study, Austin Health’s Frawley Professor Chris Rowe and his team studied 26 patients with Parkinson’s disease, 12 controls, and 11 patients with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a strong indicator of Parkinson’s disease. I checked the name. .

Each person underwent two PET scans two years apart. Key findings include:

• Currently available assessments of Parkinson’s disease showed no significant changes in clinical symptoms in any of the participants.
• In contrast, PET scans showed “significant neuronal loss” in three key areas of the brains of people with the disease, making F-AV-133 more effective than what is currently available. also suggests that it is a sensitive means of monitoring neurodegeneration.

Further mathematical modeling yields the following calculation:

• Slow nerve cell loss over a total of approximately 33 years in Parkinson’s disease

• This loss takes about 10.5 years before the disease is detected on a PET scan.
• Even if a PET scan detects the disease, it will take another six and a half years for motor symptoms to appear.
• It takes about 3 years after physical symptoms appear until a clinical diagnosis is confirmed.
• This corresponds to approximately 22.5 years of neuronal loss before clinical symptoms are sufficient for diagnosis.

Professor Burnham said the findings pave the way for the development of screening protocols to diagnose and treat Parkinson’s disease up to 10 years earlier than is currently possible. It may also help identify patients for clinical trials.

What is RBD?

• RBD stands for Rapid Eye Movement Behavior Disorder.
• Patients with RBD scream, thrash, and sometimes move violently during sleep, enacting vivid and disturbing dreams.
• RBD is caused by a lack of muscle relaxation (sleep paralysis).
• 90% of RBD patients develop Parkinson’s disease.

• Half of all Parkinson’s patients have RBD.
• RBD is an important warning sign for early Parkinson’s disease.
• If you have RBD, see a sleep specialist or neurologist.

Reference: “Use of 18F-AV-133 VMAT2 PET Imaging to Monitor Progressive Nigrostriatal Degeneration in Parkinson’s Disease”, Leah C. Beauchamp, Vincent Dore, Victor L. Villemagne, SanSan Xu, David Finkelstein, Kevin J. Barnham, Christopher Rowe, 28 November 2023 neurology.
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207748