Fall / Winter 2023 | Research 5 continuum of the disease and develop better drugs , faster .
“ Staging is critical for so many reasons ,” said Sohini Chowdhury , chief program officer for The Michael J . Fox Foundation . “ It provides a path for improving drug development and testing so that we can have better interventions throughout the disease course . It also helps us reach the day when doctors can identify and treat the disease based on objective understanding of its biology , rather than symptoms alone .”
Biology-based disease staging was not possible until the advent of the new biomarker , which detects the misfolded alpha-synuclein protein that clumps , damaging neurons in people with PD . Historically , these clumps could only be confirmed during a postmortem autopsy , but the test makes it possible to identify them in living people for the first time — enabling accurate and early diagnosis of PD , even before visible symptoms .
The Path to Staging
Work to stage Parkinson ’ s based on this biology is already underway . Buoyed by the new biomarker , a diverse international coalition has united around the effort . Along with MJFF , it brings together leaders in academia and industry , the National Institutes of Health and U . S . Food and Drug Administration , patient-centered nonprofit organizations , including Cure Parkinson ’ s and the Lewy Body Dementia Association ; and members of the patient and family community .
Their proposed staging system incorporates biological markers for the disease — both
Higher cost / More involved
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Imaging-Based Tools
DaTscan and other specialized imaging that reveals dopamine degeneration , another biomarker for PD , cannot be used on its own to determine risk for the disease or detect its early onset , but helps quantify disease progression and support staging .
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Tracking of Symptoms
Clinicians monitor αSyn-SAA- and DATscan-positive individuals for earliest PD symptoms that may arise and progress manifesting as motoric syndrome for some and / or cognitive syndrome for others .