Scientists say they have identified a molecule in the spinal fluid of Parkinson's disease patients which may open the door to an early-stage test.
They say that if the disease is spotted early enough, people with the molecule could take part in trials to test new medicines that could slow or even stop the disease.
There is currently no definitive test that allows doctors to determine if someone has Parkinson's, especially at the early stage.
GPs and consultants tend to rely on medical history, the symptoms that someone is exhibiting and a neurological and physical examination.
The newly discovered molecule is a protein which forms sticky clumps known as Lewy bodies within the brain cells of people with Parkinson's and some types of dementia.
Studies found spotting the difference between healthy and harmful forms of the protein - called alpha-synuclein - led them to accurately identify 19 out of 20 samples from Parkinson's patients, as well as three samples from people thought to be at risk of the condition.
People with Parkinson's suffer movement problems, which can lead to uncontrollable tremors, rigid muscles and poor balance.
They may also suffer depression and anxiety, a loss of the sense of smell, and problems with sleeping and memory.
An estimated 127,000 people in the UK have the disease, with the majority of them aged over 50.
Dr Alison Green, from the National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit at the University of Edinburgh, said: "We have already used this technique to develop an accurate test for Creutzfeldt Jacob Disease (CJD), another neurodegenerative condition.
"We hope that with further refinement, our approach will help to improve diagnosis for Parkinson's patients.
"We are also interested in whether it could be used to identify people with Parkinson's and Lewy body dementia in the early stages of their illness. These people could then be given the opportunity to take part in trials of new medicines that may slow, or stop, the progression of disease."
Dr Beckie Port, from the charity Parkinson's UK, said: "Although early days, the fact that researchers have developed a new test that is able to detect abnormal alpha-synuclein in the spinal fluid of people with Parkinson's with remarkable specificity and sensitivity, is hugely promising. Further research is needed."
Monday, August 29, 2016
Beyonce dominates the MTV Video Music Awards 2016
Beyonce was the big winner at last night's MTV VMAs in New York.
The singer scooped seven awards in total including the prestigious prize for video of the year for the track Formation.
"First of all I'd like to thank my beautiful daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support," she said during one acceptance speech.
Held annually, the VMAs, rewards musicians for their visual efforts.
This year's ceremony was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyonce, who was nominated for eight awards, also went home with the prize for Best Female Video, Best Direction and Best Cinematography.
She was presented with one of her awards by four members of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
The 34-year-old rounded off an impressive night with a 16 minute medley of songs taken from her latest album, Lemonade.
Other winners included Calvin Harris, Fifth Harmony and Drake.
David Bowie meanwhile was posthumously rewarded, the late singer's album Blackstar won the Best Art Direction accolade.
Rihanna was honoured on the night with the, Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, which recognizes an artist's entire catalogue of work.
Canadian rapper Drake presented Rihanna with her trophy.
The singer smiled nervously when he declared; "She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old. She's one of my best friends in the world.
"All of my adult life I've looked up to her even though she's younger than me."
The pair have collaborated on numerous occasions and there have been suggestions that their relationship hasn't always been purely business-related.
Drake was so proud of Rihanna that he decided it was worthy of a billboard advert.
Completing a star-studded night of music were performances from Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears.
Organisers of this year's event will be thankful it was largely uneventful.
The VMAs have a history of throwing up some controversial moments.
It was the scene of Kanye West's now infamous rant where he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech in 2009.
In 2010, Lady Gaga wore a dress made entirely of raw beef.
She later explained; "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones."
The singer scooped seven awards in total including the prestigious prize for video of the year for the track Formation.
"First of all I'd like to thank my beautiful daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support," she said during one acceptance speech.
Held annually, the VMAs, rewards musicians for their visual efforts.
This year's ceremony was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Beyonce, who was nominated for eight awards, also went home with the prize for Best Female Video, Best Direction and Best Cinematography.
She was presented with one of her awards by four members of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.
The 34-year-old rounded off an impressive night with a 16 minute medley of songs taken from her latest album, Lemonade.
Other winners included Calvin Harris, Fifth Harmony and Drake.
David Bowie meanwhile was posthumously rewarded, the late singer's album Blackstar won the Best Art Direction accolade.
Rihanna was honoured on the night with the, Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, which recognizes an artist's entire catalogue of work.
Canadian rapper Drake presented Rihanna with her trophy.
The singer smiled nervously when he declared; "She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old. She's one of my best friends in the world.
"All of my adult life I've looked up to her even though she's younger than me."
The pair have collaborated on numerous occasions and there have been suggestions that their relationship hasn't always been purely business-related.
Drake was so proud of Rihanna that he decided it was worthy of a billboard advert.
Completing a star-studded night of music were performances from Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears.
Organisers of this year's event will be thankful it was largely uneventful.
The VMAs have a history of throwing up some controversial moments.
It was the scene of Kanye West's now infamous rant where he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech in 2009.
In 2010, Lady Gaga wore a dress made entirely of raw beef.
She later explained; "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones."
HMS Daring To Help In Fight Against Islamic State
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has announced that HMS Daring will soon be supporting the military campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
HMS Daring, which has a crew of 190, will sail from Portsmouth to the Gulf on Friday.
The warship will help protect US aircraft carriers engaged in bombing raids against IS targets and provide information to the headquarters controlling air operations.
As part of the deployment, the Type 45 destroyer will be patrolling some of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Mr Fallon said: "All three armed services are making a vital contribution to defeating Daesh.
"RAF aircraft are hitting the terrorists daily on the ground; the Army is providing counter-explosives training to Iraq troops; the Royal Navy helps protect coalition carriers in the Gulf as they launch strikes.
"With the biggest defence budget in Europe and the second biggest in Nato, our Armed Forces are making a real difference around the world."
HMS Daring will be performing a similar role to that carried out by HMS Defender earlier in the year.
Her deployment follows a series of engine problems which have hit the Type 45 fleet.
The £1bn destroyers have suffered problems in the Persian Gulf because they were not designed for temperatures in the region.
Gas turbine engines driving the six Type 45s "degraded catastrophically" in very warm seas, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones told the Commons' Defence Committee in July.
Despite a multimillion pound refit, he said the Royal Navy had accepted it would not be able to operate the ships "all the time in every place on every day of the year".
Notting Hill Carnival: Man In Critical Condition After One Of Four Stabbings
Four people have been stabbed at Notting Hill Carnival, with one man fighting for his life in hospital.
Emergency services were called to Wornington Road in Kensington and Chelsea at 4.25pm on Sunday, the day the festival is dedicated to children and families.
A second man was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.
Minutes later, police were called to another stabbing on Portobello Road, taking one person to hospital.
And less than an hour after that, two men were stabbed on Ladbroke Grove.
They were also taken to hospital.
This @stjohnambulance#NottingHillCarnival treatment centre is so busy they're setting up extra beds #EatDrinkBeSafepic.twitter.com/RliNx40wwq— London Ambulance (@Ldn_Ambulance) August 28, 2016
The men were among 345 people treated by ambulance workers at the carnival, with 43 of them taken to hospital.
Police said they had arrested 71 people, including two for sex offences, 50 for drugs, 13 for possession of offensive weapons and others for theft and public disorder.
More than a million people were expected to attend the carnival on Sunday.
Notting Hill Carnival: Man In Critical Condition After One Of Four Stabbings
Four people have been stabbed at Notting Hill Carnival, with one man fighting for his life in hospital.
Emergency services were called to Wornington Road in Kensington and Chelsea at 4.25pm on Sunday, the day the festival is dedicated to children and families.
A second man was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.
Minutes later, police were called to another stabbing on Portobello Road, taking one person to hospital.
And less than an hour after that, two men were stabbed on Ladbroke Grove.
They were also taken to hospital.
This @stjohnambulance#NottingHillCarnival treatment centre is so busy they're setting up extra beds #EatDrinkBeSafepic.twitter.com/RliNx40wwq— London Ambulance (@Ldn_Ambulance) August 28, 2016
The men were among 345 people treated by ambulance workers at the carnival, with 43 of them taken to hospital.
Police said they had arrested 71 people, including two for sex offences, 50 for drugs, 13 for possession of offensive weapons and others for theft and public disorder.
More than a million people were expected to attend the carnival on Sunday.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Brussels explosion: Bomb blast hits police building
bomb has gone off at the Brussels Institute of Criminology, without causing casualties, Belgian media say.
Shortly before 02:30 local time (00:30 GMT), a car rammed through three fences, RTL Belgium reports.
"One or more" suspects then reportedly detonated a bomb near the laboratories.
Belgium's terror alert level remains at three since bomb attacks on Brussels airport and the city's metro claimed by so-called Islamic State killed 32 people in March.
The institute is located in Neder-Over-Hembeek, a suburb north of Brussels.
It is unclear what happened to the suspects behind the blast.
Shortly before 02:30 local time (00:30 GMT), a car rammed through three fences, RTL Belgium reports.
"One or more" suspects then reportedly detonated a bomb near the laboratories.
Belgium's terror alert level remains at three since bomb attacks on Brussels airport and the city's metro claimed by so-called Islamic State killed 32 people in March.
The institute is located in Neder-Over-Hembeek, a suburb north of Brussels.
It is unclear what happened to the suspects behind the blast.
Italy Prosecutor: Shoddy Renovations May Have Led To Quake Deaths
The prosecutor investigating the aftermath of the Italy earthquake says shoddy cut-price renovations in breach of local building regulations could be partly to blame for the high death toll.
Three medieval towns were flattened by a 6.2-magnitude quake on Wednesday, killing 291 including three Britons.
Now Giuseppe Saieva has warned that property owners who commissioned sub-standard work could be held responsible for contributing to the quake's deadly impact.
He told La Repubblica: "If the buildings had been constructed as they are in Japan they wouldn't have collapsed."
In Amatrice, a small mountain town hit hardest by the quake, the collapsed partition walls of a three-storey villa caught his eye.
He told reporters: "I can only think it was built on the cheap with more sand than cement."
He warned: "If it emerges that individuals cut corners, they will be pursued and those that have made mistakes will pay a price."
Pope Francis has said he plans to visit the area affected soon, to bring the people there the "comfort of faith".
Italy's state museums are donating Sunday's proceeds to the relief and reconstruction efforts.
The nation's rich artistic heritage is being harnessed to help restore some of the notable buildings in the areas affected.
Culture Minster Dario Franceschini urged Italians to "go to a museum in a sign of solidarity with people affected by the earthquake".
It is one of several efforts that have sprung up to help the towns rebuild.
A state funeral took place on Saturday for some of the victims of the quake.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella were at the service for 35 people from the tiny hillside villages of Arquata and Pescara del Tronto.
Several funerals were held on Friday and a common funeral service for the dead in the hard-hit towns of Amatrice and nearby Accumoli will take place next Wednesday.
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