Parkinson’s Disease
Expanding APEX’s potential in other common neurological disorders
More than 10 million people globally are living with Parkinson’s disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease. Among those with Parkinson’s, up to 80% will eventually develop dementia, with an average time of about 10 years from onset of movement problems to the occurrence of dementia.
In Parkinson’s disease, sticky alpha synuclein (α-synuclein) proteins accumulate in the brain and form aggregates that disrupt cell function. While therapeutics are emerging that break up sticky α-synuclein proteins to treat Parkinson’s disease, diagnosis and treatment continue to be stalled by the lack of accessible and reliable diagnostics.
Approximately 50% of people with Alzheimer’s disease also have aggregated α-synuclein, which is an indicator that the disease is likely to progress at a much faster rate.
Parkinson's disease is challenging to diagnose, especially in early stages of the disease, because there is no lab or imaging test that can formally diagnose it. Most often, physicians evaluate a patient’s symptoms and medical history, and/or conduct a physical exam to formulate a diagnosis, which lacks specificity.
