Emergence of breath testing as a new non-invasive diagnostic modality for neurodegenerative diseases.

Emergence of breath testing as a new non-invasive diagnostic modality for neurodegenerative diseases. Brain Res. 2018 Apr 20;: Authors: Subramaniam NS, Bawden CS, Waldvogel H, Faull RML, Howarth GS, Snell RG Abstract Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are incapacitating disorders that result in progressive motor and cognitive impairment. These disease include Alzheimer's disease the most common cause of dementia, frontotemporal dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's, Huntington's, Friedreich's ataxia, and prion disease. Dementia causing NDDs impose a high social and economic burden on communities around the world. Rapid growth in knowledge regarding the pathogenic mechanisms and disease-associated biomarkers of these diseases in the past few decades have accelerated the development of new diagnostic methods and therapeutic opportunities. Continuous effort is being applied to the development of more advanced, easy-to-apply and reliable methods of diagnosis, that are able to identify disease manifestation at its earliest stages and before clinical symptoms become apparent. Development of such diagnostic tools are essential in aiding effective disease management through accurate monitoring of disease progression, timely application of therapeutics and evaluation of treatment efficacy. Recently, several studies have identified novel biomarkers based on compounds in exhaled breath associated with sp...
Source: Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Source Type: research