Early signs of Parkinson's disease could be found in your ear
Researchers have developed a new system that could enable early detection of Parkinson's disease by analysing ear wax.
The method identifies specific volatile organic compounds in sebum, the main ingredient of ear wax, which are altered in individuals with Parkinson's.
Scientists swabbed the ear canals of 209 participants and identified four distinct compounds that serve as potential biomarkers for the condition.
An artificial intelligence olfactory system was trained with this data, achieving 94 per cent accuracy in categorising samples from individuals with and without Parkinson's.
This AI -powered system could serve as an inexpensive, first-line screening tool for Parkinson's, though further multi-centre research is needed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Births at St Mary's Birth Centre paused for 'up to six months'
Births at a baby unit in Leicestershire will be temporarily halted from next month."Long-standing challenges" at the St Mary's Birth Centre, in Melton, have "worsened in recent months", University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust said on include difficulties in achieving "safe" staffing levels, with about 30% of the team "unavailable due to maternity leave, sickness, or planned absences", a spokesperson said. The trust said it would be pausing births and in-patient postnatal care at the centre from 7 July. 'Difficult but necessary' The spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there was "appropriate staffing in place" to maintain services until pause is expected to last for "up to" six months while work is carried out to determine next steps. Staff at the unit - where 1% of births in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland take place - will be redeployed during this time. Community antenatal and non-inpatient postnatal services, such as infant feeding support, in Melton will continue 21 individuals and families who have booked or expressed interest in using the centre after 7 July have been contacted, the spokesperson added. Julie Hogg, chief nurse at UHL, said: "Pausing births and in-patient care at St Mary's Birth Centre is a difficult but necessary step. "The decision is no reflection of the commitment and care offered by the St Mary's team. "We have appropriate staffing in place to keep these services running until 7 July, when the pause will come into effect."Last year, 92 births occurred at the unit, compared to 9,331 across the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital, UHL added.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Revealed: The AI chatbot requests that cause the most carbon emissions
A new study reveals that every query to large language models like ChatGPT consumes energy and generates carbon emissions. Complex reasoning questions, such as those in abstract algebra or philosophy, lead to significantly higher carbon emissions, up to six times more than simpler queries. Models designed for explicit reasoning processes produce substantially more carbon dioxide, with some generating up to 50 times more emissions than concise response models. The study highlights an "accuracy-sustainability trade-off," where highly accurate AI models often result in greater energy consumption and carbon footprint. Researchers recommend that users reduce emissions by prompting AI for concise answers and reserving high-capacity models for tasks that genuinely require their advanced capabilities.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
New blood test could transform chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis
Scientists have identified a potential blood test that could provide the first reliable diagnosis for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Currently, ME is diagnosed by ruling out other illnesses, a lengthy process that can take years for patients. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh compared blood samples from ME patients and healthy individuals, identifying 116 "biomarkers" linked to chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and liver dysfunction. This breakthrough challenges the perception that ME is psychological, with Professor Chris Ponting stating that evidence is visible in patients' blood. While promising, the research is still in its early stages, and further work is required before a definitive diagnostic test can be guaranteed.
