PANDAS TEST?

[Wilma Jenks]

what is the name of the PANDAS test, and can i order it online and do it myself or does it need to done with a doctor? thanks so much.

[norcalmom]

I think you may be mistaken. There is no pandas test. It is a clinical diagnosis. There was a study done by Dr Cunningham which we on board call the "Cunningham's test" which measures ani-neuronal antibodies (2 kinds), dopamine (D1 and D2) as well as Cam Kinase - high amounts of which indicate increased signaling. She wrote a couple papers on these tests years ago - looking at Syndenham chorea patients and pandas pateints and comparing those measurements to "normal", OCD, tourettes and ADHD.

 

It appears that pandas kids, like SC kids, have higher than normal Cam Kinase, and usually anti-neuronals or dopamine.

 

She is trying to commercialize the test, and is in the planning stages of opening a lab to do so, but as far as I know has stopped admitting blood to her study (they had processed over 1000 samples so it was offically beyond what was needed for the "study").

 

I hope to see something from that published soon, and something on her lab.

 

Kids in the NIMH pandas study will have these tests done. But I'm pretty sure that is the only way to get them at the moment.

 

There's also debate on what the numbers mean - she needs to look at other dieases - like LYME (which she is - apparently that also causes high anti-neuronals)..it can be used as part of the clinical diagnosis, but its only part of the picture.