Carleton researchers invent rapid saliva test that can provide early detection for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

The new test can diagnose the difficult-to-diagnose diseases in seconds with high certainty, beating out previous invasive methods like the spinal tap.

Excerpt from the Press Release:

Researchers from Ottawa’s Carleton University have developed a rapid, saliva-based test that can reliably detect signs of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s early on in the diseases’ development.

The team’s palm-sized, 3D-printed device could represent the first clinical test capable of catching the difficult-to-diagnose diseases early, one of the researchers told the Star. The team expects their creation to hit clinical trials in “no less than one year.”

Their results have been peer reviewed and will be published in journal ACS Sensors in “a month or so” following minor revisions, the researchers say.

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s more manageable if caught early

Although there is no cure for the devastating neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s can “be managed much more effectively at their onset,” said Ravi Prakash, an associate professor at Carleton and lead researcher behind the project.

“With timely diagnosis and treatment, some patients canget to a point where they can manage and go about their day-to-day life,” he told the Star. Patients can better manage their symptoms with a change in lifestyle habits along with a regimen of prescription drugs. “There’s a better possibility of that if these conditions are caught early.”

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