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Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

moorfields.nhs.uk

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Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#41

Post by haldujai »

harry8 wrote: post #29
devindotcom wrote: post #25

I recall two companies working on this - RightEye and Neuralight: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/17/righteyes-portable-eye-tra... https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/24/neuralight-aims-to-track-a... Probably there are more by now. As I recall this data is great for essentially saying "you should go get a real test." No one is diagnosing - just saying that a certain, say, eye movement slowness is correlated and you can det…

is early diagnosis useful?

I don't believe any disease modifying interventions exist which would suggest no, from a purely medical patient perspective at least.

There are some candidates advertised as promising but I'm not sure how much stock I have in this. This isn't my area of expertise but disease modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases have been touted as being "around the corner" since I was a first year medical student.

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#42

Post by tasty_freeze »

kadoban wrote: post #35
harry8 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is early diagnosis useful?

If nothing else, it could allow you to make different decisions in your life. If my mind is going to be gone in 10 years, I'm sure as shit not saving for long term retirement anymore.

> If my mind is going to be gone in 10 years

Parkinsons affects motor control, not mental functioning. The point still stands -- if I got a diagnosis I would be less likely to embark on learning to play the piano, and I'd start educating myself on the disease.

EDIT: I'll correct myself. It primarily affects motor control, but late in the disease it can affect cognition.

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#43

Post by ShamelessC »

devindotcom wrote: post #25

I recall two companies working on this - RightEye and Neuralight: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/17/righteyes-portable-eye-tra... https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/24/neuralight-aims-to-track-a... Probably there are more by now. As I recall this data is great for essentially saying "you should go get a real test." No one is diagnosing - just saying that a certain, say, eye movement slowness is correlated and you can det…

[flagged]

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#44

Post by pulvinar »

TheBlight wrote: post #12

The idea of knowing you're going to get dementia sometime in the next decade is interesting. But I don't think it's straight-forward as to whether or not knowing is a good idea. It's also a little amusing to take the idea to its logical extreme: What if it becomes a societal norm to know? Would public venues allow soon-to-be dementia patients line cutting priority etc? Think amusement parks, transit reservations, hot…

We could spend our remaining days living it up, but after we're dead all those experiences won't make one whit of difference to us. What will live on is our legacy, in the minds of those still living. I'd rather not be remembered as someone who pushed others aside and spent their inheritances.

Something to think about.

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#45

Post by efitz »

So if this works then the benefits will be amazing.

I am skeptical for three reasons.

First, the article goes on about the eyes being “windows” to the body and introduces us to the new “science” of “oculomics”. That might be journalist license but it smells of pseudoscience; phrenology anyone?

Second, the idea that any image of an eye can be used to diagnose lots of different neurological conditions like schizophrenia again smells like pseudoscience; reminds me of excessive claims of what chiropractic can do.

Finally, the study seems to be “let’s dump medical records and retina images into a neural network and see what correlates”. I didn’t read the actual study but I would be extremely concerned about accuracy rates.

So I remain cautiously optimistic but still very skeptical; I would be happy to be wrong in this case.

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#46

Post by playto »

devindotcom wrote: post #25

I recall two companies working on this - RightEye and Neuralight: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/17/righteyes-portable-eye-tra... https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/24/neuralight-aims-to-track-a... Probably there are more by now. As I recall this data is great for essentially saying "you should go get a real test." No one is diagnosing - just saying that a certain, say, eye movement slowness is correlated and you can det…

> say, eye movement slowness

It’s not just movement. Retinal tissue develops from the same embryonic tissue as the brain. They probably looked at structure, vasculature.

The best anecdote in this space- nobody with congenital blindness has developed schizophrenia.

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#47

Post by efitz »

kadoban wrote: post #35
harry8 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is early diagnosis useful?

If nothing else, it could allow you to make different decisions in your life. If my mind is going to be gone in 10 years, I'm sure as shit not saving for long term retirement anymore.

But what if you’re a false positive? What opportunities dis you forgo by choosing a path based on incorrect foreknowledge?

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#48

Post by throw9away6 »

declan_roberts wrote: post #33
space_fountain wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe Obamacare did fix this in the US, but at the trade off of requiring people to hold health insurance at all times. The thinking was otherwise people would just only get insurance when they got supper sick. The republicans chipped away at that requirement (it was one of the least popular parts of the bill) and I think removing it didn’t actually cause the insurance market to collapse which everyone thought it…

There’s no such qualifier for any heath insurance you get after 2010. No denying you or charging you more because of a pre-existing condition.

Health no but life yes

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#49

Post by throw9away6 »

AndyNemmity wrote: post #16
throw9away6 wrote: post #11

This will get used against you to deny insurance coverage. Not to help anyone.

This is true. The net effect is you can be denied coverage. They don't explain this to you when you get the check.

It’s better to not screen for conditions with no treatment

Re: Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before diagnosis

#50

Post by anonzzzies »

efitz wrote: post #47
kadoban wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If nothing else, it could allow you to make different decisions in your life. If my mind is going to be gone in 10 years, I'm sure as shit not saving for long term retirement anymore.

But what if you’re a false positive? What opportunities dis you forgo by choosing a path based on incorrect foreknowledge?

As someone who is somewhat older and had a medical scare, I am going to say I wish I had done everything always as if I am going to die in a year.
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