MNDA-funded study unveils potential for faster diagnosis

A new scientific study may have made a discovery that can drastically improve the speed with which motor neurone disease is diagnosed.

According to the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), research into the condition is being held back to an inability to accurately chart the progressive of the disease, and thus monitor its early stages.

However, MNDA-funded research conducted by the University of Oxford has used MRI scans to find a pattern of nerve cells that could lead them to the discovery of an important biomarker, identifying patients with motor neurone disease.

Lead researcher Dr Martin Turner said that finding this biomarker will make diagnosis of the condition much more accurate and significantly faster.

Reacting to the news, the MNDA's director of research and development Dr Brian Dickie said: "MRI scanning provides an exciting window on the brain.

"Understanding these changing events is going to be central to the development of future treatments."

Motor neurone disease is diagnosed for two in every 100,000 people in the UK each year, according to MNDA statistics.

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