A small skin biopsy (biopsy) can help diagnose Parkinson’s disease (rheumatoid arthritis) and other nervous system problems early, according to a study.
According to research, this test looks for phosphorylated alpha-synuclein (p-SYN). It is an abnormal protein that is associated with certain brain problems.
The study examined 424 people between the ages of 40 and 99 who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body dementia, multiple system A trophy and pure autonomic failure.
According to the results of the study, skin biopsies were positive for P-SYN in 93% of patients with Parkinson’s disease.
The research findings, published in the journal JAMA, raise hopes for earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease using biopsies and faster drug discovery.
This test is also capable of diagnosing other problems related to the alpha-synuclein protein (such as Lewy body dementia, another common type of dementia).
Around one million people worldwide are suffering from epilepsy. Diagnosing this disease is difficult as there is currently no test for it and its symptoms are not the same between two people and are often mistaken for another disease.
In a previous study, the team reported that this method could distinguish between Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis (a rare neurological condition in which nerve cells in the brain gradually die).
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