“The assay accurately diagnosed disease in 99 percent (274 of 278) of people with smell loss and sporadic Parkinson’s (without a known causal genetic mutation).”
The spinal fluid test separated Parkinson’s from controls with 88 percent sensitivity across more than 1,100 participants. It caught 68 percent of patients with a LRRK2 mutation, and only three of 24 women with that mutation and a normal sense of smell. The headline sells a universal test. The data says Parkinson’s is more than one disease, and the test only sees one of them.