Quote:
Originally Posted by lurkingforacure
I wonder if they have addressed false positives with this? We all know that people who have been diagnosed with PD and been taking PD drugs for years, usually decades, often have no evidence of alpha-synuclein clumps in their brains on autopsy, which means that they are definitively ruled out (post-mortem) as ever having had PD. Yet many people have these same alpha-syn clumps on autopsy and never had a symptom of PD while alive.
What if someone has the "PD blood marker" with this test but no symptoms of PD? That could sure label someone in a bad way. Imagine having a routine blood test and being erroneously told you had PD!
On the flip side, I guess that's a lot better than being told you have PD and you really do  |
The studies to test this of course need to be double blind tests where the lab folks have no idea who is who and all they do is measure alpha nuclein and come up with a decision as to whether the patient has PD or not. This data would then result in accuracy rate based on actual patient data. If I understand the data so far, folks that have excess alpha nuclein often will end up with PD but just don't know it yet. This data (once accuracy is determined) will allow folks to be treated before symptoms even occur! I think this is the way things will be in the near future!