THIS WELL STATED 20% loss of dopamine before PD symptoms show would A TEST FOR DOPAMINE resolve problem.. catch it before it gets hold

[professor]

if 20/25% has to be lost then a normal level MUST BE KNOWN .this significant loss GOES UNDETECTED until nearly a quarter is gone .loss , without a flag being raised NO INDICATOR ,.natural recovery of dopamine AINT HAPPENING

if the body cannot identify it, it cant action it. A TEST FOR DOPAMINE. isneeded, bear with me here

LIKE a barrel of apples.APPLES may LOOK OK but unless YOU EMPTYOUT check for rotten ones.20% of the apples may be rotten and you would be unable to tell.like parky dopamine loss. A TEST IS NEEDED

[Hikoi]

Yes we do need markers for diagnosing and treating PD.

I'm not sure what the 20% refers to Prof. Is it the amount of loss of dopamine producing neurons at time of diagnosis (I thought that was closer to 80%) or something different?

What about the DaTscan? Can it measure dopamine levels in the brain?

[Pete-1 in reply to Hikoi]

I seem to remember 90% or more before symptoms show. I had a DAT Scan. The results from a DAT Scan seem to be trusted very well but it only gives one of 2 possible results, PD or not PD. If the result shows not PD then no further diagnosis is available via the DAT San, i.e. it doesn't tell you that you have MSA or PSP or CBD etc. rather than PD.

[ken_phd]

Professor:

Agreed. A dopamine test is needed. Why the bio-techs haven't come up with one is a mystery to me.

[soup]

The Tracking Parkinson's study amongst others is looking for simply accessed bio markers for Parkinson's. The dopamine levels in the brain are what counts and this is not reflected by dopamine levels anywhere else, eg the blood, so it's hard to use that as a definitive test for PD.

The DaT scan can show dopamine receptor activity in the brain but it only indicative for Parkinson's because other conditions can mimic the results.

An early biomarker for Parkinson's is the Holy Grail' as early diagnosis can lead to early drug intervention and thereby neuroprotection and recovery. They are looking but it might be that gait analysis, speech analysis of even measures of loss of smell might be the answer.

[Hikoi in reply to soup]

Thanks soup

The solution to a question involving the brain is often much more complicated than it first appears.

Biomarker research is high on MJFox agenda too i believe.

[PatV]

yes, and someday my prince will come but never give up hope.

[Prayingforacure]

My husband had dopamine blood test done after he had been off the pd MEDS the results were that his dopamine level was very high in the blood test.

[grey in reply to Prayingforacure]

Hi prayingforacure. Who carried out this blood test? Where was the blood taken from?

[mktbob55]

DAT Scan pdf.org/en/science_news/rel...

[grey in reply to mktbob55]

Good article, mktbob55.

This link is also worth a read as it has some more detail of the actual test :

news-medical.net/news/20110...

[grey]

The patient becomes aware of Parkinson's symptoms when 80% of dopamine producing cells are not functioning. There are eight areas in the brain which use dopamine but only one is affected, the substantia nigra, which is responsible for starting movement and dealing with unplanned changes.

The apples in the barrel analogy is a little misleading as I understand it. There is no barrel or tank, dopamine is produced by individual cells (neurons) for its own use and any stored dopamine is stored in the neuron.

Also, the dopamine is not rotten, it is simply not produced due to faulty or dead neurons.