Are you developing Parkinson's disease? Earwax may show if you are at risk, study says
A team based at Zhejiang University in Guangzhou has found that earwax tests could help with the early detection of the debilitating disease, which is difficult to treat and has no cure.
Earwax from people with Parkinson's disease were significantly different than the earwax from people without the disease,' according to the American Chemical Society, which published the team's findings.
The researchers were following up on previous work showing that Parkinson's sufferers' sebum – an oily substance secreted through the skin – has a different odour than that of people without the disease.
Since earwax is largely made up of sebum, the team realised it would make for a potentially telling research target.
Earwax is a naturally occurring substance produced in the ear canal to protect and clean the ear. Photo: dpa
After screening samples taken from more than 200 people, the team found alterations in four volatile organic compounds – organic chemicals that easily evaporate into the air – in Parkinson's patients' earwax. These changes do not appear in the compounds in the sebum of those who do not have Parkinson's.
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