Normally Parkinson is detected when its symptoms have already reached at advance stage and during that course of time patient has already lost a significant amount of brain cells. But in new research a voice test could diagnose disease of Parkinson earlier. Researchers believe that by detecting the symptoms earlier doctors could treat the disease more effectively. The research could also prove helpful in curing neurological disorders.
Researchers at Haifa University developed a computer program that can identify voice of Parkinson’s and the program could also be used for screening those people who are hereditary risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The speech is often affected by disorder because Parkinson’s causes degeneration in muscle of the neck and mouth that causes sufferer to produce a husky voice.
Through this research by calculating small changes in speech pattern which is unobservable to human ears, now it could be detected that whether health looking person is a sufferer. There are other symptoms of disease such as rigidity in muscles, slow movement, tremor and loss of balance. In a voice test patients need to speak only a few sentences.
Early detection of disease could help doctors to diagnose the disease and prevent the loss of nerve cells in the area of brain which controls the movements of the body up to sixty percent. The speech method for early detection of Parkinson’s has already been taken by doctors around the globe. Researchers believe that this technique will prove crucial in field of diagnosing Parkinson’s.
Dr Kieran Breen of Parkinson’s UK said, “Trying to find ways to diagnose Parkinson’s at an early stage is key to understanding how to develop better and more effective treatments.”