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96
anonymous
2019 Mar 28, 3:44am
@curious2
'Super-smeller' helps develop swab test for Parkinson's disease - Distinctive musky odour of people with Parkinson’s could lead to earlier diagnosis
Scientists have developed a test for Parkinson’s disease based on its signature odour after teaming up with a woman who can smell the condition before tremors and other clinical symptoms appear.
The test could help doctors diagnose patients sooner and identify those in the earliest stages of the disease, who could benefit from experimental drugs that aim to protect brain cells from being killed off.
Perdita Barran, of the University of Manchester, said the test had the potential to decrease the time it took to distinguish people with normal brain ageing from those with the first signs of the disorder. “Being able to say categorically, and early on, that a person has Parkinson’s disease would be very useful,” she said.
Most people cannot detect the scent of Parkinson’s, but some who have a heightened sense of smell report a distinctive, musky odour on patients. One such “super smeller” is Joy Milne, a former nurse, who first noticed the smell on her husband, Les, 12 years before he was diagnosed.
Milne only realised she could sniff out Parkinson’s when she attended a patient support group with her husband and found everyone in the room smelled the same. She thought little more about it until she mentioned the odour to Tilo Kunath, a neurobiologist who studies Parkinson’s at Edinburgh University.
Kunath tested Milne’s skills by having her sniff T-shirts worn by either healthy people or Parkinson’s patients. Milne identified all those worn by the patients and said one more T-shirt bore the same scent. Eight months later, the wearer was diagnosed with the disease.
For the latest study, Barran worked with Kunath and Milne to identify the main substances that give rise to the distinctive Parkinson’s odour. They focused on compounds in sebum, a waxy fluid that is secreted by glands in the skin, particularly on the upper back where Milne said the scent was strongest.
The scientists used a technique called mass spectrometry to measure levels of volatile chemicals in sebum on swabs from Parkinson’s patients and healthy volunteers. By testing different groups, they whittled down the number of fragrant compounds from thousands to just four that appear to be most important for the scent.
Writing in the journal ACS Central Science, the researchers describe how Milne confirmed that mixtures of the four compounds had the same musky smell as Parkinson’s patients. Tests found that levels of three substances, eicosane, hippuric acid and octadecanal, were all higher than normal in the sebum of Parkinson’s patients, while levels of a fourth substance, perillic aldehyde, were lower.
To see whether the test can spot Parkinson’s before doctors can, the scientists have teamed up with researchers in Austria who study people with REM sleep disorders. A separate study found people with a specific kind of such disorder have a 50% risk of developing Parkinson’s in later life.
“If we can detect the disease early on, that would be very good news. It would mean we have a test that picks it up before motor symptoms appear,” Barran said.
In parallel, more than 1,000 Parkinson’s patients and hundreds of healthy people will have their sebum analysed to see how reliable the test is. Scientists will also look at whether changes in the odour reflect the progression of the disease, or even different forms of Parkinson’s.
Werner Poewe, the director of neurology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, said diagnosing Parkinson’s early and accurately was critical to giving patients the best advice and treatment. The discovery of a Parkinson’s scent “opens up an entirely new approach to test for the presence of Parkinson’s by a non-invasive test that only involves swabbing a piece of gauze across the neck region of a patient,” he said.
“Identifying [early] stages of the disease in those who have not yet developed classical signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease is a necessary first step to eventually testing new treatments that will delay or prevent the onset of this illness,” Poewe added.
Milne, whose sense of smell is so sensitive she has to avoid the more fragrant aisles of supermarkets, has identified the scents of other diseases too. To her, Alzheimer’s smells vaguely of vanilla, while cancer has a more earthy odour. In her next collaboration with the Manchester group, the aim will be to identify chemicals that produce a signature odour for tuberculosis.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/20/super-smeller-helps-develop-swab-test-for-parkinsons-disease
NOTE: This next link is much better and has access to the PDF for the study cited above.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.8b00879
'Super-smeller' helps develop swab test for Parkinson's disease - Distinctive musky odour of people with Parkinson’s could lead to earlier diagnosis
Scientists have developed a test for Parkinson’s disease based on its signature odour after teaming up with a woman who can smell the condition before tremors and other clinical symptoms appear.
The test could help doctors diagnose patients sooner and identify those in the earliest stages of the disease, who could benefit from experimental drugs that aim to protect brain cells from being killed off.
Perdita Barran, of the University of Manchester, said the test had the potential to decrease the time it took to distinguish people with normal brain ageing from those with the first signs of the disorder. “Being able to say categorically, and early on, that a person has Parkinson’s disease would be very useful,” she said.
Most people cannot detect the scent of Parkinson’s, but some who have a heightened sense of smell report a distinctive, musky odour on patients. One such “super smeller” is Joy Milne, a former nurse, who first noticed the smell on her husband, Les, 12 years before he was diagnosed.
Milne only realised she could sniff out Parkinson’s when she attended a patient support group with her husband and found everyone in the room smelled the same. She thought little more about it until she mentioned the odour to Tilo Kunath, a neurobiologist who studies Parkinson’s at Edinburgh University.
Kunath tested Milne’s skills by having her sniff T-shirts worn by either healthy people or Parkinson’s patients. Milne identified all those worn by the patients and said one more T-shirt bore the same scent. Eight months later, the wearer was diagnosed with the disease.
For the latest study, Barran worked with Kunath and Milne to identify the main substances that give rise to the distinctive Parkinson’s odour. They focused on compounds in sebum, a waxy fluid that is secreted by glands in the skin, particularly on the upper back where Milne said the scent was strongest.
The scientists used a technique called mass spectrometry to measure levels of volatile chemicals in sebum on swabs from Parkinson’s patients and healthy volunteers. By testing different groups, they whittled down the number of fragrant compounds from thousands to just four that appear to be most important for the scent.
Writing in the journal ACS Central Science, the researchers describe how Milne confirmed that mixtures of the four compounds had the same musky smell as Parkinson’s patients. Tests found that levels of three substances, eicosane, hippuric acid and octadecanal, were all higher than normal in the sebum of Parkinson’s patients, while levels of a fourth substance, perillic aldehyde, were lower.
To see whether the test can spot Parkinson’s before doctors can, the scientists have teamed up with researchers in Austria who study people with REM sleep disorders. A separate study found people with a specific kind of such disorder have a 50% risk of developing Parkinson’s in later life.
“If we can detect the disease early on, that would be very good news. It would mean we have a test that picks it up before motor symptoms appear,” Barran said.
In parallel, more than 1,000 Parkinson’s patients and hundreds of healthy people will have their sebum analysed to see how reliable the test is. Scientists will also look at whether changes in the odour reflect the progression of the disease, or even different forms of Parkinson’s.
Werner Poewe, the director of neurology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, said diagnosing Parkinson’s early and accurately was critical to giving patients the best advice and treatment. The discovery of a Parkinson’s scent “opens up an entirely new approach to test for the presence of Parkinson’s by a non-invasive test that only involves swabbing a piece of gauze across the neck region of a patient,” he said.
“Identifying [early] stages of the disease in those who have not yet developed classical signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease is a necessary first step to eventually testing new treatments that will delay or prevent the onset of this illness,” Poewe added.
Milne, whose sense of smell is so sensitive she has to avoid the more fragrant aisles of supermarkets, has identified the scents of other diseases too. To her, Alzheimer’s smells vaguely of vanilla, while cancer has a more earthy odour. In her next collaboration with the Manchester group, the aim will be to identify chemicals that produce a signature odour for tuberculosis.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/20/super-smeller-helps-develop-swab-test-for-parkinsons-disease
NOTE: This next link is much better and has access to the PDF for the study cited above.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.8b00879
97
anonymous
2019 Apr 11, 12:52pm
@curious2 - possibly of some interest to you.
New treatment may slow, stop, reverse Parkinson's disease. Researchers have developed a new drug that could correct damage to the brain caused by Parkinson's disease and lead to improvement of symptoms, researchers report.
Patients who had implants to replace damaged brain cells showed 100 percent improvement in reawakening portions of their brains harmed by Parkinson's, according to research published Tuesday in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.
"The spatial and relative magnitude of the improvement in the brain scans is beyond anything seen previously in trials of surgically delivered growth-factor treatments for Parkinson's," Alan L. Whone, a researcher at University of Bristol and study author, said in a news release. "This represents some of the most compelling evidence yet that we may have a means to possibly reawaken and restore the dopamine brain cells that are gradually destroyed in Parkinson's."
The researchers used robot-assisted neurosurgery to implant a special delivery system to release Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor into the brain cells of Parkinson's patients.
More: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/02/27/New-treatment-may-slow-stop-reverse-Parkinsons-disease/8751551281589/
New treatment may slow, stop, reverse Parkinson's disease. Researchers have developed a new drug that could correct damage to the brain caused by Parkinson's disease and lead to improvement of symptoms, researchers report.
Patients who had implants to replace damaged brain cells showed 100 percent improvement in reawakening portions of their brains harmed by Parkinson's, according to research published Tuesday in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.
"The spatial and relative magnitude of the improvement in the brain scans is beyond anything seen previously in trials of surgically delivered growth-factor treatments for Parkinson's," Alan L. Whone, a researcher at University of Bristol and study author, said in a news release. "This represents some of the most compelling evidence yet that we may have a means to possibly reawaken and restore the dopamine brain cells that are gradually destroyed in Parkinson's."
The researchers used robot-assisted neurosurgery to implant a special delivery system to release Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor into the brain cells of Parkinson's patients.
More: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/02/27/New-treatment-may-slow-stop-reverse-Parkinsons-disease/8751551281589/
98
anonymous
2019 Apr 11, 12:54pm
@curious2 - possibly of some interest to you.
Number of people with Parkinson's may double in 20 years, report says - In a report warning of a possible Parkinson's "pandemic," researchers say the stage is set for cases to surge to 12 million or more by 2040.
The number of people living with Parkinson's disease worldwide could double in the next two decades, experts project.
In a report warning of a possible Parkinson's "pandemic," researchers say the stage is set for cases to surge to 12 million or more by 2040.
What's to blame? In large part, trends that are generally positive: Older age is a major risk factor for Parkinson's, and with life expectancy rising worldwide, more people will develop the disease. At the same time, Parkinson's patients are surviving longer, which drives up the number of people living with the disease at any given time.
Then there's a less expected factor: Declining smoking rates. While the habit has many devastating effects, research suggests it protects against Parkinson's
More: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/02/19/Number-of-people-with-Parkinsons-may-double-in-20-years-report-says/1751550591755/
Number of people with Parkinson's may double in 20 years, report says - In a report warning of a possible Parkinson's "pandemic," researchers say the stage is set for cases to surge to 12 million or more by 2040.
The number of people living with Parkinson's disease worldwide could double in the next two decades, experts project.
In a report warning of a possible Parkinson's "pandemic," researchers say the stage is set for cases to surge to 12 million or more by 2040.
What's to blame? In large part, trends that are generally positive: Older age is a major risk factor for Parkinson's, and with life expectancy rising worldwide, more people will develop the disease. At the same time, Parkinson's patients are surviving longer, which drives up the number of people living with the disease at any given time.
Then there's a less expected factor: Declining smoking rates. While the habit has many devastating effects, research suggests it protects against Parkinson's
More: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/02/19/Number-of-people-with-Parkinsons-may-double-in-20-years-report-says/1751550591755/
99
anonymous
2019 Apr 11, 12:56pm
@curious2 - possibly of some interest to you.
Parkinson's gene therapy may reduce medicine required for treatment
March 21 (UPI) -- A new brain operation may reduce the severity of motor problems in people with Parkinson's disease and decrease the amount of medication they need, a new study says.
This treatment helped Parkinson's patients reduce their medication by up to 42 percent, according to findings published Wednesday in the Annals of Neurology.
It also gave patients three extra hours a day of "on-time," the period where medication doesn't cause involuntary muscle movements. This condition is a common side effect called dyskinesia, which is brought on due to long-term medication use.
"This is the first gene therapy trial for Parkinson's disease trial in which intra-operative MRI-guided monitoring was used," Chad Christine, a researcher at the University of California at San Francisco Department of Neurology and study first author, said in a news release. "This allowed us to visualize and guide the infusion of the treatment into the brain in real time, to ensure delivery to the area that should provide maximum benefit."
The researchers developed a method of gene therapy for increasing an enzyme called AADC, which converts the drug into dopamine. Using an inactive virus, the researchers injected the gene into a part of the brain called the putamen.
Group one saw 1.6 hours of on-time and a 15 percent reduction in medicine, while group two got 3.3 hours and a 33 percent reduction in medicine. Group three got 1.5 hours on-time and a 42 percent reduction in drugs.
"We have evidence from a previous study that the gene therapy results in stable expression of the AADC enzyme," Christine said. "We believe that this treatment will allow these patients to more efficiently convert levodopa into dopamine, thereby obtaining greater improvements in mobility with each dose. Since many patients were able to substantially reduce the amount of Parkinson's medications, this gene therapy treatment may also help patients by reducing dose-dependent side effects, such as sleepiness and nausea."
More: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/03/21/Parkinsons-gene-therapy-may-reduce-medicine-required-for-treatment/5211553170330/
Parkinson's gene therapy may reduce medicine required for treatment
March 21 (UPI) -- A new brain operation may reduce the severity of motor problems in people with Parkinson's disease and decrease the amount of medication they need, a new study says.
This treatment helped Parkinson's patients reduce their medication by up to 42 percent, according to findings published Wednesday in the Annals of Neurology.
It also gave patients three extra hours a day of "on-time," the period where medication doesn't cause involuntary muscle movements. This condition is a common side effect called dyskinesia, which is brought on due to long-term medication use.
"This is the first gene therapy trial for Parkinson's disease trial in which intra-operative MRI-guided monitoring was used," Chad Christine, a researcher at the University of California at San Francisco Department of Neurology and study first author, said in a news release. "This allowed us to visualize and guide the infusion of the treatment into the brain in real time, to ensure delivery to the area that should provide maximum benefit."
The researchers developed a method of gene therapy for increasing an enzyme called AADC, which converts the drug into dopamine. Using an inactive virus, the researchers injected the gene into a part of the brain called the putamen.
Group one saw 1.6 hours of on-time and a 15 percent reduction in medicine, while group two got 3.3 hours and a 33 percent reduction in medicine. Group three got 1.5 hours on-time and a 42 percent reduction in drugs.
"We have evidence from a previous study that the gene therapy results in stable expression of the AADC enzyme," Christine said. "We believe that this treatment will allow these patients to more efficiently convert levodopa into dopamine, thereby obtaining greater improvements in mobility with each dose. Since many patients were able to substantially reduce the amount of Parkinson's medications, this gene therapy treatment may also help patients by reducing dose-dependent side effects, such as sleepiness and nausea."
More: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/03/21/Parkinsons-gene-therapy-may-reduce-medicine-required-for-treatment/5211553170330/
« First « Previous Comments 95 - 99 of 99 Search these comments
I've been reading a lot about Parkinson's Disease research, including especially stem cell research. "Now that the president is in favour, [advocate Michael J] Fox observes wryly, "there is no money" for Congress to pay for it." Am I the only one to notice this pattern: when R's are in charge, they call stem cell research "immoral" (though they launch phony wars killing thousands of people including children); when D's are in charge, they call stem cell research "unaffordable" (though they launch infinite mandatory spending on entrenched industry revenue models)? Are there any SF Bay area companies researching a cure for Parkinson's Disease, and what experience have they had?
Update 2016: in addition to the continuously updated list of projects in this thread, anyone interested in this topic should see the Michael J. Fox Foundation site.