PD Tech

During the recent Apple product update announcements, something caught my eye and might be of interest to others with Parkinson's – Fall Detection. This watch can now detect if you have fallen and, in reaction, call 911 and an emergency contact if needed. Here is how it works ...

Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers interesting possibilities for Parkinson's disease therapy. University of Southern California engineers are teaming with researchers and VR game designers to help Parkinson’s patients walk steadily with confidence, creating a VR application called Overcome. Traditional physiotherapy is centered around strength training, stretching, and movement practice, usually in a clinic setting. However, studies have shown that activity performed in the context of the environment, like say, stepping over an obstacle, aids long-term retention in motor skills far more than simply being told to lift one’s foot. This game, in an immersive virtual reality setting, offers the player ...

This Week's Highlights: Dog Days of Summer; if Parkinson's starts in the gut, what does this mean; getting the most from your remaining dopamine neurons; international PD soccer tournament; PD smartwatch is too retro for its own good; marijuana and pain; forget about hot chilis; research briefs; inspiring people with PD; Improv to Improve PD; and much more ...

Weekly Update - Highlights include: Mayo Clinic researchers explore the relationship between low levels of Vitamin B-12 and Parkinson’s; appendix removal might or might not affect Parkinson’s risk; monkey butt research finds PD related proteins linked to inflammation; impulse control disorders and PD; Pharmaceutical News from the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology; technology targets freezing of gait; creating your own placebo effect; inspiring people with Parkinson's talk boxing, DBS and poetry; and more ...

A Cal Poly (California Polytechnic State University) student project to help a local military veteran has become a business designed to help patients with Parkinson’s disease overcome a debilitating and dangerous symptom known as “freezing of gait.” De Oro Devices, based in San Luis Obispo, California, recently edged out six other startups for a $100,000 investment during the second annual Central Coast Angel Conference Pitch Competition held in April by the university. While working on the project as part of the Quality of Life Plus (QL+) program, which pairs the challenges of wounded vets with student projects, student Sidney Collin ...

This is a recap of the most interesting news and discussions relating to Parkinson’s Disease this past week. Researchers delivered a sobering statistic that if you can survive more than 10 years with Parkinson's, there is a greater than 50% chance of developing dementia...and reminded us that regular exercise is the best intervention to avoid becoming a statistic. Fee-fi-fo-fum, this woman can smell the musky smell of Parkinson's...the fascinating story of a wife who nagged her husband about his hygiene for years before his PD diagnosis...20+ years later researchers are using her to sniff out biomarkers that can be used ...

This is a recap of the most interesting news and discussions relating to Parkinson's Disease this past week. We saw people with Parkinson's in Tasmania (Australia) turning heads with the latest Parkinson's Disease fashion trend, wearing red light buckets on their heads. They say it helps improve their symptoms. We saw study results that told us that while research on the gut bacteria/PD connection continues, we should also be aware that gut bacteria can interfere with levodopa treatment. Rock and roll legend Peter Frampton was diagnosed with Inclusion Body Myositis, a rare disease that based on some of the symptoms, ...