(NewsNation) — Eye scans could be able to detect Parkinson’s disease several years before the presentation of other symptoms, according to a new study.
The findings, published in the journal Neurology, add to growing evidence that eye scans could help detect neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.
Researchers at University College Hospital and the Moorfields Eye Hospital used a type of 3D scan known as optical coherence tomography (OCT) which detected Parkinson’s disease markers an average of seven years before clinical symptoms.
They discovered patients with Parkinson’s have reduced thickness of the both the inner nuclear layer (INL) and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (CCIPL) of the retina.
“Collectively, these findings strengthen the argument that neurodegenerative pathology in Parkinson disease involves the GCIPL and INL and that these retinal layers may have prognostic clinical relevance,” the researchers wrote in the study.
To find the markers, the researchers used artificial intelligence to compare OCT eye scan data from 700 people who developed Parkinson’s disease. They also examined data from the UK Biobank database, which contains more than 67,000 healthy volunteers, the Guardian reported.
Eye scans, or “oculomics,” have also been used to reveal a propensity to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, the researchers noted in a news release.
“I continue to be amazed by what we can discover through eye scans,” said Dr. Siegfried Wagner, the study’s lead author. “While we are not yet ready to predict whether an individual will develop Parkinson’s, we hope that this method could soon become a pre-screening tool for people at risk of disease.”
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition that reduces dopamine, and autopsies have shown differences in retinal layer thickness.
The researchers caution more study is needed, particularly to determine whether INL thinning precedes GCIPL atrophy.
“Exploring this could help explain the mechanism and determine whether retinal imaging could support the diagnosis, prognosis, and complex management of patients affected by Parkinson disease,” the media release states.