They study how Parkinson's affects skin temperature

Several neurologists from Granada, led by Francisco Escamilla and Adolfo Mínguez, researchers at the ibs.GRANADA Biosanitary Research Institute, and Carlos Javier Madrid, have just published a scientific article in the journal Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, in an original work together with psychologists Emilio Gómez and Elvira Salazar, who had already described the "Pinocchio effect," the increase in nasal temperature when someone lies.

Along the same lines, doctors came up with the idea of "photographing" the hand temperature of Parkinson's patients and observing how they respond when exposed to cold. It was found that these patients have an altered response to cold and that their hand temperatures are asymmetrical before exposure. This type of study could be useful in diagnosis, especially in those with more impaired autonomic nervous system function.

“We are trying to validate this technique with patients who already have the diagnosis, that is, who already have tremor or other symptoms. This constitutes the pilot phase, but for the future we intend to reverse that order and for this simple method to be applied to initially distinguish Parkinson's from other diseases that mimic it, ”explains neurologist Francisco Escamilla, principal investigator of the study. "There are other diseases such as multiple sclerosis or diabetes that present this alteration in distal temperature, so thermography and the study of the specific patterns of Parkinson's patients can help us to advance specifically in this disease," Escamilla added.