First early-detection blood test for Parkinson's shows promise

If those data prove as promising as this early trial, an early-detection blood test for Parkinson's disease could someday become a reality. According to Dr. Beal, "That would be a big step forward for both the treatment and the study of this devastating illness."

This work was supported by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Department of Defense, and Edwin and Carolyne Levy.

Co-researchers include lead researcher Dr. Mikhail Bogdanov, of Weill Cornell Medical College and Bedford VA Medical Center, Bedford, Mass.; Dr. Wayne R. Matson, of Bedford VA Medical Center; Dr. Lei Wang, of Weill Cornell and Bedford VA Medical Center; and Dr. Rachel Saunders-Pullman and Dr. Susan S. Bressman, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, located in New York City, is one of the leading academic medical centers in the world, comprising the teaching hospital NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical College, the medical school of Cornell University. NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine, and is committed to excellence in patient care, education, research and community service. Weill Cornell physician-scientists have been responsible for many medical advances -- from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and, most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally-conscious brain-injured patient. NewYork-Presbyterian, which is ranked sixth on the U.S.News & World Report list of top hospitals, also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Pavilion. Weill Cornell Medical College is the first U.S. medical college to offer a medical degree overseas and maintains a strong global presence in Austria, Brazil, Haiti, Tanzania, Turkey and Qatar. For more information, visit www.nyp.org and www.med.cornell.edu.