RESEARCH: Eye test could detect Parkinson’s disease early enough

A new research has discovered a method of detecting changes in the eye which could spot the Parkinson’s disease even before the symptoms develop.

Parkinson’s affects 1 in 500 people and is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world.

Professor Francesca Cordeiro who led the research said it was a “potentially revolutionary breakthrough in the early diagnosis and treatment of one of the world’s most debilitating diseases”.

“These tests mean we might be able to intervene much earlier and more effectively treat people with this devastating condition.”

The symptoms of Parkinson’s range from tremors and muscle stiffness, slowness of movement to a relative decline in quality of life.

These symptoms usually only emerge after brain cells have been damaged.

But there is currently no brain scan or blood test that can definitively diagnose Parkinson’s disease.

Although the disease is not fatal, the symptoms do get worse overtime.

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali who died at the age of 74 was one of the sufferers of the disease.

He lived with the degenerative brain disease for decades, though his brain disease did not kill him – Ali died following complications linked to a chest infection.

Parkinson’s disease was arguably one of his greatest challenges.