(Bronwyn Thompson/ New Atlas) — For the first time, scientists have identified a marker in the retina that may lead to the development of Parkinson’s disease, and it may be detected years prior to diagnosis.
Researchers out of Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London (UCL) conducted the largest study to date looking at retinal imaging and Parkinson’s disease, using the AlzEye dataset, a retrospective cohort of 154,830 patients aged 40 years and over, and 67,311 volunteers aged 40-69 years from the UK Biobank.
Post-mortem scan studies of patients that had developed Parkinson’s disease revealed differences in the inner nuclear layer (INL) of the retina, as well as the previously noted thinner ganglion cell–inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) compared to healthy people. (…)