Parkinson’s disease is a serious brain condition that slowly affects a person’s ability to move, sleep, smell, and think clearly. It affects more than 10 million people around the world.
As people live longer, experts predict that this number will double by the year 2050. Sadly, there is still no cure and no good way to detect the disease early—before major damage is done to the brain.
But now, researchers in Sweden and Norway have made a major breakthrough. A team led by scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has found new signs of early-stage Parkinson’s that can be seen in the blood.
These signs, called biomarkers, could be used in a simple blood test to detect the disease early, years before symptoms appear.
In the study, published in the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease, the scientists looked at two key processes that seem to happen very early in the disease.
One is how cells repair damage to their DNA—the basic instructions that tell our cells what to do. The other is how cells respond to stress. When cells are under stress, they pause their normal work and try to protect themselves and fix damage.
The researchers believe these processes start long before the typical signs of Parkinson’s, like shaking or stiffness, are visible. In fact, these changes may begin up to 20 years before a person develops clear symptoms.
The team used advanced tools, including machine learning, to study patterns in the blood of people who may be in the early stages of Parkinson’s. They found specific gene activity linked to DNA repair and stress response that was present only in people at this early stage—not in healthy people or in patients whose disease had already progressed.
This is an exciting discovery because it opens a “window of opportunity.” During this early window, Parkinson’s might be diagnosed and treated before it causes major brain damage. The biomarkers disappear once the disease gets worse, so timing is everything.
These blood-based signs could make it possible to create low-cost, easy tests to screen for Parkinson’s—tests that could be used in clinics around the world.
Right now, most early signs of Parkinson’s (like changes in sleep, mood, or smell) are hard to link directly to the disease. Brain scans and fluid tests are expensive and not practical for large-scale use. A blood test would change everything.
The researchers hope that such a test could be available in health care settings within five years. In the meantime, they plan to study how the early-stage processes actually work and how they might be stopped.
This could also help in creating treatments that protect the brain. In some cases, it might even be possible to use existing drugs that affect the same cell processes.
The study was led by Dr. Annikka Polster from Chalmers University, working together with scientists from Oslo University Hospital in Norway. They believe their discovery will not only improve diagnosis but could also lead to new ways to prevent or slow the disease.
When we review and analyze this research, we see how powerful early detection can be. Most people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s only after their brain has already lost a lot of important nerve cells—sometimes up to 80%.
That’s very late in the disease. If doctors can spot the disease earlier, they might be able to slow or even stop the damage before it’s too late.
The discovery of these early-stage blood markers is a big step forward. It shows that changes in how our cells handle stress and repair damage may be key clues to Parkinson’s. These changes are not just side effects—they might be the very first signs of the disease starting.
This study gives us hope. It shows that we may be closer than ever to finding a way to diagnose Parkinson’s early, and maybe even stop it in its tracks. A simple blood test could one day save millions of people from the suffering that Parkinson’s brings.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies that Vitamin B may slow down cognitive decline, and Mediterranean diet could help lower risk of Parkinson’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing Plant-based diets could protect cognitive health from air pollution.
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