There is no known way to definitively diagnose Parkinson's while the patient is living. Instead doctors must rely on observing the symptoms and progression of those symptoms. Finding a method to diagnose Parkinson's early would greatly help with developing a cure, better treatments and maybe even a way to slow or stop the disease early on.
I am fascinated by the numerous different approaches that researchers are taking to search for an early diagnostic tool. The methods range from brain scans, to genetic mutations, to assessing a person's sense of smell. I am hopeful that an early diagnostic tool will be found, if for no other reason than to help people with early symptoms know if they truly have Parkinson's or not. It took 10 years to diagnosis my mom properly and I think that is way too long.
One of the methods that has received a lot of press lately is using spectroscopy (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_basic_principle_of_ir_spectroscopy) as a way to analyze a patient's blood and look for a "chemical signature" or biomarkers for the disease. Here is one of the numerous articles I have read on this subject. http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2008/08/06/Test_for_Parkinsons_being_developed/UPI-28711218039021/
Another method that I find intriguing is to assess a person's sense of smell. Loss of smell is one of the symptoms of Parkinson's and it will be interesting to see if assessing this sense in people is a reliable method for detecting such a major disease. It seems that non-Parkinson's people can identify 35-40 smells correctly while Parkinson's patients can identify only 20 or less smells correctly. It would be amazing if assessing something so basic, and that we all take for granted, is the key to an early diagnosis. Here is a recent article on this topic.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/17107808/detail.html
One of my hopes is that by finding a tool for early diagnosis we can also develop methods to protect the brain and the remaining dopaminergic neurons so that the disease does not progress or at least progresses at a much slower rate.
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i was diagnosed of parkinson disease 5 years ago,i started azilect,then mirapex as the disease progressed in february last year,and i started on parkinson disease herbal medicine from ultimate life clinic,few months into the treatment i made a significant recovery,almost all my symptoms are gone,great improvement with my movement and balance,it been a year and life has been so good for me,reach them through there website at www.ultimatelifeclinic.com
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