Parkinson's disease 'could be detected early on by brain changes

Changes in the brain that can be spotted years before physical symptoms of Parkinson’s disease occur might act as an early warning sign for the condition, researchers say.

It is thought that about 145,000 people in the UK are living with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological condition that can lead to mobility problems, including slowness and tremors, as well as other symptoms such as memory difficulties. There are treatments to help manage symptoms but as yet the disease cannot be slowed or cured.

The researchers, based at King’s College London, say the latest findings could eventually lead to new ways to identify people who might go on to develop Parkinson’s; the discoveries could also confirm diagnoses, monitor the disease progression, and aid the development and testing of drugs. Those developments could be some way off though, some scientists have said.

Most of the time Parkinson’s appears to have no known cause, so people affected by the disease are not studied before their symptoms appear.

But the King’s College studies concerned with genetic mutations making the development of Parkinson’s disease more likely, could point to the warning signs.

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