Sure, let’s start with background research for this article:
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disorder that affects nerve cells in deep parts of the brain involved in controlling movement and muscle coordination. The disease generally progresses slowly over many years, and symptoms may take different forms in different people. While medication can help manage the symptoms, there is currently no cure for Parkinson’s.
The test procedure that researchers from University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Paracelsus-Elena-Klinik Kassel and University College London (UCL) have developed aims to predict the onset of Parkinson’s up to seven years before traditional motor problems emerge through a simple blood sample.
The PROPAG-AGING project spanning four years was backed by EU funding totaling around six million euros. It centers around aging-related disorders like Parkinson’s disease which significantly impact patients’ quality of life globally. The development brings hope towards early detection potentially leading towards more focused treatment protocols aiming both symptom management and slowing progression.
FAQs:
1. What is Parkinson’s Disease?
Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive nerve disorder affecting movement due to gradual loss of certain neurons in the brain producing dopamine, a chemical messenger crucially involved with motion control.
2. What are usual signs of Parkinson’s Disease?
Classic symptoms include tremors primarily at rest, stiffness or rigidity of limbs or trunk & slowness initiated movements named as bradykinesia besides others like balance problems or gait disorders etc., usually varying widely among affected individuals
3. What does this new test do?
This innovative blood-test developed as part of PROPAG-AGING project predicts possibility of future development & onset-timing – top seven years ahead than actual display clinical motor symptoms for at-risk individuals liable to develop Parkinson’s disease.
4.How accurate is this new test?
Exact accuracy rates remain yet unpublished but as per study-results released via Nature Communications points affirmatively towards subsequent reliable clinical application. Researchers hope this breakthrough could lay substantive groundwork for early detection of Parkinson’s disease.
5. What makes this test so special?
Traditionally, a diagnosis of Parkinson’s is still mostly based on symptoms & signs displayed by patient, making it exceptionally challenging for doctors to predict disease onset given it manifests differently among each individual affected. This blood-based test can forecast the likelihood of developing the illness seven years before symptoms appear enabling clinicians to initiate treatment much sooner and effectively delay progression.
6. When will this new test procedure be available for general use?
As indicated in the press-release extract, research team’s next goal is transforming this testing-procedure suitable for ‘clinical utility’. Till that accomplishment, exact timing remains undecided with more studies needed.
7.What was the PROPAG-AGING project?
The Four-year long PROPAG-AGING is a collaborative research initiative supported generously by EU funds aimed at investigating age-associated disorders like-respective Parkinson’s Disease impacting life quality adversely worldwide.
Originamitteilung:
In an international cooperation project, researchers from the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), the Paracelsus-Elena-Klinik Kassel and University College London (UCL) have developed a test procedure that makes it possible to predict the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in at-risk patients up to seven years before the onset of typical motor symptoms using a blood sample. The next step is to further develop this test for clinical application. The four-year PROPAG-AGING project was funded by the EU with a total of around six million euros. The results have been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.