British researchers made significant progress in Parkinson’s diagnosis with a cotton swab that identified the disease within three minutes. This new method can pinpoint a particular mass compound commonly present in Parkinson’s patients, as writes the University of Manchester in a press release.
Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that provokes severe symptoms in a person’s motor conditions. Some of the symptoms are a lack of control over body movements, involuntary shaking, and balance issues. The disease’s manifestation starts moderately and worsens over time, and there is still no cure.
This innovative diagnosis technique involves utilizing a cotton swab test and detecting the Parkinson’s compound with mass spectrometry. Essentially, mass spectrometry is used to measure the mass-to-ratio of a specific molecule in a sample.
To establish a comparison, the researchers conducted a study with 79 patients with Parkinson’s and 71 healthy individuals. In the end, it was possible to differentiate individuals with Parkinson’s disease compounds. Notably, it was also viable to classify a distinguished odor that PD carriers typically present even before the symptoms manifest.
What originated the creation of that method?
The reason behind the cotton swab creation has a name: Joy Milne. The retired nurse from Perth, Scotland, discovered that she had hyperosmia, a hereditary condition that gave her an acute sense of smell.
By using her sensitivity, she noticed a particular odor in her husband, who was later diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Afterward, Milne made good use of her gift and supported the research in determining the presence of the Parkinson’s smell particle in the patients’ sebum.
Sebum is an oily secretion located under the skin. According to the experts, it was discovered that altered sebum is an identifiable feature of Parkinson’s disease, which can be used as a diagnostic fluid.
The researchers are highly optimistic about this new diagnosis mechanism. Since there was no well-proved biomarker test for Parkinson’s before the cotton swab, this discovery seems a breakthrough for PD carriers. Now, the focus has shifted to the test’s impact on clinical utility and eventually diagnosing other diseases.
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