Scientists discover handwriting can diagnose Parkinson's

By Abigail Klein Leichman

ISRAEL21c

A new Israeli study comparing the handwriting of healthy people to those with Parkinson’s disease (PD) holds out the promise of providing a simple diagnostic tool at the earliest stages of the progressive disorder caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain’s muscle-movement control areas.

As many as 10 million people worldwide suffer the tremors, impaired balance and rigidity associated with PD, which has no cure. The handwriting study is the latest in many Israeli investigations into causes, diagnosis and treatment for PD.

Unfortunately, physicians can diagnose PD definitively only by observing clinical symptoms that appear at a relatively advanced stage, or by administering a test called SPECT, which uses radioactive material to image the brain.

But researchers at the University of Haifa and Rambam Medical Center in Haifa believe their study shows how the disease can be detected sooner, noninvasively and without radiation.

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