WELCOME TO OUR PARKINSON'S PLACE!

I HAVE PARKINSON'S DISEASES AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A PLACE WHERE THE CONTENTS OF UPDATED NEWS IS FOUND IN ONE PLACE. THAT IS WHY I BEGAN THIS BLOG.

I COPY NEWS ARTICLES PERTAINING TO RESEARCH, NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE, DEMENTIA, THE BRAIN, DEPRESSION AND PARKINSON'S WITH DYSTONIA. I ALSO POST ABOUT FUNDRAISING FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE AND EVENTS. I TRY TO BE UP-TO-DATE AS POSSIBLE.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IT'S CONTENTS. I AM JUST A COPIER OF INFORMATION SEARCHED ON THE COMPUTER. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE COPIES ARE JUST THAT, COPIES AND AT TIMES, I AM UNABLE TO ENLARGE THE WORDING OR KEEP IT UNIFORMED AS I WISH. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND I AM A PERSON WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE. I HAVE NO MEDICAL EDUCATION,

I JUST WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU WHAT I READ ON THE INTERNET. IT IS UP TO YOU TO DECIDE WHETHER TO READ IT AND TALK IT OVER WITH YOUR DOCTOR. I AM JUST THE COPIER OF DOCUMENTS FROM THE COMPUTER. I DO NOT HAVE PROOF OF FACT OR FICTION OF THE ARTICLE. I ALSO TRY TO PLACE A LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH ARTICLE TO SHOW WHERE I RECEIVED THE INFORMATION SO THAT YOU MAY WANT TO VISIT THEIR SITE.

THIS IS FOR YOU TO READ AND TO ALWAYS KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

PLEASE DISCUSS THIS WITH YOUR DOCTOR, SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, OR CONCERNS. NEVER DO ANYTHING WITHOUT TALKING TO YOUR DOCTOR FIRST..

I DO NOT MAKE ANY MONEY FROM THIS WEBSITE. I VOLUNTEER MY TIME TO HELP ALL OF US TO BE INFORMED.

I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY ADVERTISEMENT OR HEALING POWERS, HEALING FROM HERBS AND ETC. UNLESS IT HAS GONE THROUGH TRIALS AND APPROVED BY FDA. IT WILL GO INTO SPAM.

THIS IS A FREE SITE FOR ALL WITH NO ADVERTISEMENTS

THANK YOU FOR VISITING! TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

TRANSLATE

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Scientists sniff out Parkinson's disease smell



They hope it could lead to the first diagnostic test for the disease. 
A team from Manchester has found distinctive molecules that seem to be concentrated on the skin of Parkinson's patients.
One in 500 people in the UK has Parkinson's - that is 127,000 across Britain. 

Musky smell

It can leave them struggling to walk, speak and sleep. 
Currently there is no definitive test for the disease, with clinicians diagnosing patients by observing symptoms.
This is how the disease has been diagnosed since 1817, when James Parkinson first established it as a recognised medical condition.
However, that could change because of Joy Milne from Perth, whose husband Les was told he had Parkinson's at the age of 45.
About a decade before her consultant anaesthetist husband was diagnosed, Joy noticed she could detect an unusual musky smell.

Joy's husband Les died in 2015, at the age of 65

"It was a new smell - I didn't know what it was. I kept on saying to him, and he became quite upset about it. So I just had to be quiet."
The retired nurse only linked the odour to the disease after meeting people with the same distinctive smell at a Parkinson's UK support group.
She told scientists at a conference, and subsequent tests carried out by Edinburgh University's Dr Tilo Kunath confirmed her ability.
Dr Tilo Kunath, from Edinburgh University's school of biological sciences, was one of the first scientists Joy spoke to

Joy was given 12 unmarked T-shirts to smell - six worn by Parkinson's patients and six worn by volunteers without the disease.
She correctly identified the six worn by Parkinson's patients, but could also smell the odour on a T-shirt worn by someone in the control group without Parkinson's.
Joy was told three months later that this person had in fact been diagnosed with Parkinson's after the T-shirt tests.

No cure

Dr Kunath said: "She was telling us that this individual had Parkinson's before he knew, before anybody knew.
"So then I really started to believe her, that she could really detect Parkinson's simply by odour that was transferred on to a shirt that the person with Parkinson's was wearing."
Joy's husband died in 2015, aged 65. 
There is no cure for the disease and Joy's last promise to him was that she would investigate her special ability and how it might help others.
Dr Kunath has enlisted the help of Prof Perdita Barran, an expert in chemical analysis from Manchester University, to try to isolate the actual molecules that form the odour that Joy is able to smell.

Prof Perdita Barran and her team found that people with Parkinson's seem to have some different molecules, which is what Joy is smelling

Prof Barran's team collected samples from patients with Parkinson's and a control group of those without, to see if there were molecular signatures that only people with the disease have.
The samples were put through a mass spectrometer, a device that isolates and weighs individual molecules.
The first set of results indicated there were 10 molecules distinctive to Parkinson's sufferers.
Prof Barran said: "It is very humbling as a mere measurement scientist to have this ability to help find some signature molecules to diagnose Parkinson's. It wouldn't have happened without Joy.
"For all the serendipity, it was Joy and Les who were absolutely convinced that what she could smell would be something that could be used in a clinical context and so now we are beginning to do that."

No comments:

Post a Comment