Latest news with #earlyDiagnosis
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
AI pen can detect Parkinson's disease through handwriting
(NewsNation) — The Parkinson's disease world may have just received its next big breakthrough. Scientists have developed a self-powered pen — with magnetic ink — that can potentially discover early signs of Parkinson's disease by analyzing handwriting. 'Detection of subtle motor symptoms unnoticeable to the naked eye is critical for early intervention in Parkinson's disease,' Jun Chen, PhD, an associate professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Parkinson's News Today. 'Our diagnostic pen presents an affordable, reliable, and accessible tool that is sensitive enough to pick up subtle movements and can be used across large populations and in resource-limited areas.' More than 130 Royal Caribbean passengers gets sick from stomach bug With an average accuracy of 96.22%, the pen recorded handwriting signals for patients with Parkinson's. It also successfully analyzed one-dimensional convolutional neural network-assisted analysis. 'This pen is diagnosing the problem with handwriting, which is just one of the many symptoms that we see in our patients,' Chrystalina Antoniades, University of Oxford, acknowledged to The Guardian. 'But it can be complementing what we already found, picking up something that might be difficult to see.' The pen's cost is significantly lower than commercial electronic pens for tablets and digital pens for writing pads. Parkinson's disease affects 10 million people worldwide. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Medical News Today
21-07-2025
- Health
- Medical News Today
Skin swabs may help detect Parkinson's years before symptoms appear
There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, nor are there specific tests for early diagnosis. A new study has identified a way to detect the condition before symptoms appear through the use of skin swabs via sebum and smell. The swabs could offer a noninvasive way to help diagnose Parkinson's disease in people who have not yet developed symptoms. According to the Parkinson's Foundation, more than 10 million people around the world are living with Parkinson's disease — a neurological disease that negatively impacts a person's movement and speech is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease. Although right now there are no specific tests to help diagnose the condition, identifying warning signs of Parkinson's disease as early as possible is critical in helping to slow disease progression. 'Current clinical diagnosis is too late as disease has progressed a lot,' Drupad K. Trivedi, PhD, lecturer in analytical and measurement science at the University of Manchester, told Medical News Today. Trivedi is the corresponding author of a new study recently published in the journal npj Parkinson's Disease that has identified a way to detect the condition before symptoms appear through the use of skin swabs. 'Smelling' signs of Parkinson's diseaseFor this study, scientists focused on testing study participants by using skin swabs of their sebum — an oily substance naturally produced by the skin's sebaceous the skin swabs, Trivedi said they were able to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the sebum. Different VOCs have a distinct smell, which is what helps make each person's body odor unique. 'We have found a few compounds that are expressed differently in people with Parkinson's disease compared to healthy controls as well as those who had REM sleep behavior disorder. A test that is a simple skin swab can potentially be the first test to detect Parkinson's before all the clinical signs start appearing.' — Drupad K. Trivedi, PhDThis study is an extension of two previous studies conducted by Trivedi and his team. The first study in March 2019 identified the presence of VOC biomarkers in the sebum of people with Parkinson's disease that also has a distinct smell. A second study in February 2021 that found a differential VOC profile between participants with Parkinson's disease and controls when analyzing their sebum. All of this research was reportedly inspired by Joy Milne, a research associate at the University of Manchester, who has a condition called hyperosmia, giving her an extremely strong sense of smell. In 2015, it was reported that Milne was able to 'smell' Parkinson's disease on her husband about six years before he received his concept of 'smelling' Parkinson's disease was further validated in a study recently published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease — for which Trivedi was also part of the research team — that found trained dogs could detect an odor on skin swabs to detect Parkinson's disease. Sebum compound levels may indicate Parkinson's diseaseResearchers recruited 83 study participants. Of this number, 46 had a Parkinson's disease diagnosis, 28 were healthy controls, and nine had isolated REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (iRBD), which is considered to be an early warning sign of Parkinson's disease. Upon analysis, Trivedi and his team found that 55 significant features in the sebum that varied between the groups, and those with iRBD had levels in between those with Parkinson's disease and the healthy controls.'There were 55 features that showed levels for iRBD between healthy and Parkinson's disease,' Trivedi detailed. 'iRBD is one of the prodromal symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This means a good proportion of individuals suffering from iRBD may develop Parkinson's disease in the next decade or more. The intermediate level indicates a progression from control to iRDB to Parkinson's disease.' 'By early detection, we will be able to triage and offer advanced clinical tests, specialist support for confirmatory diagnosis without relying on physical symptoms to appear,' he continued. 'It also creates a potential to develop disease-modifying therapies in the future.' 'Next steps are to quantify these observed compounds in Parkinson's disease and iRBD, and also validate these findings in a long-term prospective study of [a] bigger iRBD cohort,' Trivedi added. Sebum VOCs may also help map Parkinson's progressionAdditionally, Trivedi collected sebum samples from people with Parkinson's disease over a three-year period. From these samples, he was able to find sebum compound patterns that suggest this method may also be used to map disease progression. 'This indicates that molecules we see on (the) skin surface may indicate progression of Parkinson's disease — it is a progressive disease with no cure,' he explained. 'A sudden, rapid progression could be monitored in future using such markers on [the] skin surface. There is also a potential to monitor [the] efficacy of treatment by such an approach.'Possible noninvasive tool for diagnosing presymptomatic Parkinson'sMNT also spoke with Rocco DiPaola, MD, a neurologist and movement disorder specialist at Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey, about this study. DiPaola commented that this study's results would offer a noninvasive tool for potentially diagnosing presymptomatic Parkinson's disease. 'While there are currently no treatments that prevent or slow the progression of disease, as these treatments become available, it will be important to identify those at risk prior to symptom onset,' he continued. 'Further studies on a larger scale to further determine validity of results as well as a means to have this available as a standardized test. Although not specific to this study, it would be important to continue to find ways to diagnose Parkinson's disease prior to symptom onset.'
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Groundbreaking new method can detect Parkinson's years before symptoms with 98% accuracy
Your dog may be able to tell if you develop Parkinson's disease years before any symptom, a new study suggests. Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that primarily affects movement, causing symptoms like tremors, stiffness and slow movement. Currently, this incurable disease can't be diagnosed with a definitive test and most patients do not know they have the condition until symptoms begin. However, now researchers from University of Bristol, UK have found that dogs can smell the signs of Parkinson's disease (PD) through skin swabs with 98 percent accuracy well before any other test. Lead author Dr Nicola Rooney, Associate Professor at Bristol Veterinary School said: 'Identifying diagnostic biomarkers of PD, particularly those that may predict development or help diagnose disease earlier is the subject of much ongoing research. 'I believe that dogs could help us to develop a quick non-invasive and cost-effective method to identify patients with Parkinson's disease.' As of 2025, over 1million Americans suffer from the neurological disorder and a new person is diagnosed with every six minutes, according to American Parkinson Disease Association. Despite mostly affecting older adults aged 65 and above, about 10 percent of people are diagnosed prior to age 40 with young-onset Parkinson's. During early stages of Parkinson's disease, the neurons in the brain responsible for producing a chemical called dopamine begin to slowly break down or die. Dopamine acts as a messenger between the parts of the brain and nervous system that help control and coordinate body movements. The lack of dopamine causes the primary symptoms of the disease to begin appearing including tremors, drooling, cramped or small handwriting, trouble swallowing and a loss of smell. Over time, as the neurons continue to die, the patients also begins to experience a slowness in movement, muscle stiffness, balance problems and begin to show signs of depression. Ultimately, those suffering from Parkinson's may be unable to stand or walk independently and require a wheelchair or are bedridden. They may also require around-the-clock care. Medication can help manage symptoms, but their effectiveness may decrease over time, requiring adjustments to treatment plans. In this study, published in The Journal of Parkinson's Disease, the British researchers trained two dogs, a golden retriever and black labrador. Both animals were given over 200 odor samples to learn how to recognize the difference in smell between skin oil (sebum) samples from individuals with Parkinson's and those without for weeks. Researchers have found that dogs can smell the signs of Parkinson's disease (stock image) The dogs were rewarded when they correctly identified a positive sample or accurately ignored a negative one. In a double-blind trial, where neither the handlers nor researchers knew which samples were which, the dogs were able to recognize nearly all Parkinson's-infected swabs. Moreover, they were also able to detect Parkinson's in swabs from people with multiple health conditions. As a result, the researchers concluded that the disease has a unique scent signature, and dogs could help identify it through subtle changes in the sebum produced by individuals with the disease. This could pioneer a faster, non-invasive way to detect the disease years earlier than current methods allow, experts claimed. Claire Guest, CEO of Medical Detection Dogs, the company that collaborated with the scientists, said: 'We are extremely proud to say that once again, dogs can very accurately detect disease. 'There is currently no early test for Parkinson's disease and symptoms may start up to 20 years before they become visible and persistent leading to a confirmed diagnosis. 'Timely diagnosis is key as subsequent treatment could slow down the progression of the disease and reduce the intensity of symptoms.' Previous research has shown that Parkinson's disease affects the production and composition of sebum in the skin which can lead to an altered odor. Since dogs have a highly developed sense of smell, far superior to humans, they are able to detect these subtle differences in scent and identify signs of the disease earlier than any other evaluation.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Skin cancer diagnosis after Guernsey beautician spotted change
A beautician's work referring clients to get checked for skin cancer has been praised by Merrett was having an appointment when Racheal Day, owner of The Day Salon, suggested she get her skin checked. Ms Merrett said she "didn't for one for a moment think it would be skin cancer".Ms Day, who has undergone training in spotting skin abnormalities, said it was "really important for people to get early diagnosis if they have got something wrong". Ms Day said everyone in her salon had done further advanced training with Skcin, a UK charity which helps people who work with skin recognise any abnormalities on their clients. "We see people regularly so we do notice any changes in their skin and we've had a few clients... that we've referred and there has been something wrong with them," she said."It's an honour to be able to help them." After visiting a GP, Ms Merrett had a biopsy and the cancer was cut out. "I respect Racheal, she saw something and next time I went to the GP... I remembered the conversation."I just thought it was was an injection site and it was a reaction from my skin to an injection over a period of time." Terry Naftel was having a waxing treatment when Ms Day recognised an irregular mole on his got the all-clear but he said her work could be life-saving for others."It's an additional service that could be saving lives and it's free really because all you're doing is paying for the treatment," he story is part of BBC Guernsey's Sun Safety Campaign.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Top scientists flag little-known earliest signs of dementia that have nothing to do with memory
Changes in sight, hearing, taste, touch and balance are little-known dementia signs that can strike years before more well-known symptoms, experts have warned. Dementia, a condition which blights the lives of millions, famously causes problems with patients' memory, language and mood. Medics, using tools like memory tests and interviews, assess these when diagnosing the condition. But now scientists say there is substantial evidence that dementia starts to impair the senses many years before a patient shows the classic signs. This they say, offers hope that sensory changes can be used as an early warning sign and help patients be diagnosed far sooner. They have now called for such changes to be included in standard dementia diagnostic tests which have predominantly focused on recording memory difficulties. An early diagnosis for dementia is considered critical as, while the condition is incurable, treatments can combat symptoms and sometimes slow progression. The team includes three dementia experts in Professor Andrea Tales, of Swansea University, Dr Emma Richards of Public Health Wales and Professor Jan Kremláček of Charles University in Prague. 'Broadening the diagnostic approach beyond memory testing raised the potential to identify dementia at preclinical stages when therapies and life modifications may be most effective,' Professor Kremláček explained. Dr Richards added: 'Many patients report experiencing these sensory changes years before receiving a diagnosis, but these symptoms may be overlooked during standard cognitive assessments. 'Understanding and addressing these issues, and providing support earlier could be transformative, enabling health care providers to offer the vital emotional and social support patients need at a potentially confusing and distressing time. 'In addition to this, understanding changes in a person's senses can help support a clinician in determining a dementia diagnosis.' Dementia, and particularly early signs of the condition, has been linked to changes in sensory perception before. As the condition is neurodegenerative, meaning it causes continuous brain atrophy, loss of brain tissue and volume, over time, this is believed to have an impact on how our senses function, even in the early stages. Earlier this year neurologists highlighted that a loss of sense of smell could be an early sign of dementia and strike 10-years before better-known symptoms. It isn't just smell—vision disturbances and problems with balance are some of the earliest, but often dismissed, signs, especially in younger patients. Writing for The Conversation earlier this year, Molly Murray, an expert in young-onset dementia from the University of West Scotland, said for many patients the first sign of the condition is a problem with their eyes. 'Research shows that for around one third of people with young-onset Alzheimer's disease [the most common form of dementia] , the earliest symptoms they had were problems with coordination and vision changes,' she wrote. Experts have also warned that problems with spatial awareness such as standing too close to people are also potential dementia warning signs which can occur up to twenty years before the classic symptoms. More than 944,000 people in the UK are thought to be living with dementia, while the figure is thought to be around seven million in the US. Recent analysis by the Alzheimer's Society estimated the overall annual cost of the dementia to the UK is £42billion a year, with families bearing the brunt. An ageing population means these costs—which include lost earnings of unpaid carers—are set to soar to £90billion in the next 15 years. A separate Alzheimer's Research UK analysis found 74,261 people died from dementia in 2022 compared with 69,178 a year earlier, making it the country's biggest killer.
