Valley doctors inch forward with Parkinson's test

SUN CITY, Ariz. -- For Drs. Charles Adler and Thomas Beach, one of the most difficult parts of diagnosing Parkinson's disease is that they could be wrong.

"There is no test, so we don't have any way of looking at making a diagnosis while someone is alive," said Adler, a neurologist with the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.

But Adler and Beach, a senior scientist at the Banner Sun Health Research Institute, are reporting strides in developing the first diagnostic test to detect Parkinson's, a devastating and chronic neurological disorder.

A study they conducted through the Mayo Clinic and Banner Health found that examining a portion of a person's saliva gland may allow doctors to diagnose the disease.

They will present the study in March at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting.

Should this lead to a diagnostic test, Adler said he is pretty confident it will be able to change the course of the disease.

"Patients often undergo invasive treatment, and people who don't have Parkinson's don't respond well," Adler said. "Being able to tell people, Yes, you do have Parkinson's,' would make it much easier."

Diagnosis has for years occurred through a sometimes inaccurate examination of symptoms such as tremors, slowness of movement and muscle stiffness. Doctors have only found definitive answers through autopsies.

"That's a big problem for clinical trials (of treatments or cures)," Beach said. "If you're testing people with new drugs and only half actually have Parkinson's disease, then right away you're up against a problem."

Adler said only 80 to 85 percent of patients autopsied actually had Parkinson's, so a tissue test would guarantee diagnosis and lower chances of degeneration.

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Valley doctors inch forward with Parkinson's test