Diagnosing epilepsy is difficult mainly because there is currently no specific test for it. The disease has different symptoms and can resemble many other diseases, which means that it can be misdiagnosed.
In a study published in the journal Lancet Neurology, US scientists say they have developed a method that could help identify abnormal proteins associated with the disease, before symptoms appear.
This study confirms that a method called alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay (alpha-synuclein-SAA) can accurately diagnose people who are at risk of developing the disease. The research findings may help pave the way for early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
In the last 25 years, epilepsy has doubled worldwide. The number of people affected by this disease has reached one crore.
Research co-author Professor Andrew Sideroff, from the University of Pennsylvania, said identifying effective Parkinson’s markers, possibly through early diagnosis, could be important in how the disease is treated.
