New Blood Test Detects Damaged Mitochondrial DNA As Marker of Parkinson’s Disease; Test May Allow Earlier Detection of Disease

Researchers have developed a blood test that detects Parkinson’s disease, potentially establishing a way to help diagnose the condition before nervous system damage worsens. A new blood-based diagnostic test would be a major advancement for Parkinson’s disease, which afflicts 10 million people worldwide and is the second-most-common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s. Led by a team of Duke Health neuroscientists, the study appeared August 30, 2023 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The open-access article is titled “A Blood-Based Marker of Mitochondrial DNA Damage in Parkinson’s Disease.”