Duke Health part of international study using blood test for early detection and intervention of Parkinson's Disease

There is new hope for families dealing with Parkinson’s Disease which attacks the body’s nervous system.

International and U.S. researchers, including Duke Health, have played a role in developing a new blood test which detects a key indicator of Parkinson’s Disease and helps identify therapist targeting a genetic risk factor.

They say the advance could lead to early detection and intervention for a disease which afflicts 10 million people worldwide. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease.

Shaky hands are just one possible sign of the progression of Parkinson’s Disease. Currently, a variety of treatments may only slow down the illness.

Laurie Sanders, Ph.D., was a senior study author. She said "We don’t have any drugs or interventions that really get at the heart of what’s driving the disease."

The study is published in the August 30th journal "Science Translational Medicine". Sanders says they lacked objective markers of the disease. "So that’s what we set out to do is to develop a blood test for Parkinson’s Disease," said Sanders.

The blood test can distinguish between those who have Parkinson’s and those who don’t. In addition to that, Sanders said, "We’re able to detect our marker and those that were at risk for Parkinson’s Disease, but that haven’t developed symptoms yet."

That means they may begin to identify potential Parkinson’s patients sooner, with early intervention and possibly even cures.

Sanders said, "We treated patient cells with drugs that are being tested in clinical trials currently, and what we found is that our bio-marker completely got reversed and went away."

Sanders says researchers often approach neurodegenerative diseases as an intellectual pursuit. "But as, sort of, time has gone on, this has become really personal as well, as close friends and family members are now afflicted with the disease."

She adds, the goal is to use the blood test as a screening tool for clinics and potential patients as soon as possible and then identify the best therapies for clinical trials.