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A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

blogs.microsoft.com

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Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#91

Post by ghvknvgvh »

wordupmaking wrote: post #67
grzm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different journalistic styles appeal to different people. If this one didn't appeal to you, that's perfectly fine. To figure out why it didn't appeal to you, and why you personally find it frustrating, that's great, and a good exercise in critical thinking, literary analysis, and self examination. That said, there's a key difference between "This style of writing is very frustrating." and "I find this style of writin…

> From reading other comments in this thread, the story appealed to them. The story, or the writing style? I also upvoted the story, because I'm not going to punish it for the shit writing. And I actually dislike that the topmost comment, which I agree to from the bottom of my heart, is about the style; but the very fact that it's at the top means that maybe even more people find it just as annoying. As for the style…

This is not news, therefore it doesn't have to be written in the style you linked.

If it was, people would read the first paragraph, move on, and then complain that they wasted their money in buying whatever newspaper/magazine they're reading.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#92

Post by birdman3131 »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #85
jakobegger wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And with all that back story, they didn't even answer the most important question: WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM? How did the engineer know to she had to build a vibrating wristband?

Probably from that vibrating spoon idea. https://www.liftware.com

I was always under the impression that the spoon did not vibrate but instead moved opposite of the direction of the tremors. Kinda like a steadycam for a camera.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#93

Post by jedimastert »

birdman3131 wrote: post #92
dclowd9901 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably from that vibrating spoon idea. https://www.liftware.com

I was always under the impression that the spoon did not vibrate but instead moved opposite of the direction of the tremors. Kinda like a steadycam for a camera.

The prototype actually was just the mechanism for a camera stablizer, just with spoon attached. Not actually a steady cam though, as those are just passive inertia-based gimbals on springs.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#94

Post by jedimastert »

8note wrote: post #20

what about just adding a heavy watch? that would at least cut down the frequency of the tremors, which could help the brain get its act together

It's not just heavy, it vibrates. It's actively trying to interrupt the tremors, as opposed to just dampening.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#95

Post by caycep »

Hm.

Parkinson's patients sometimes have tremors, but all tremors are not Parkinson's. The physiological explanation of Parkinson's "firing off wrong signals to muscles" is not correct.

Parkinson's disease is defined primarily by bradykinesia and limb rigidity - the difficulty of the motor planning part of the brain processing motor commands to the motor cortex. Much of the disability in Parkinson's disease comes from a patient's brain not being able to come up with motor commands fast enough, resulting in wooden, statue-like movement and gait instability (i.e. coming up with motor commands fast enough to maintain upright balance).

Of interest - while tremors (i.e. essential tremors, action tremors, rubral tremors) can limit function, the interesting part of Parkinsonian tremors are that the vast majority of them are "resting tremors," i.e. they go away with action and thus are not the limiting factor of writing. Most Parkinson's patients complain, rather, of the bradykinesia (motor command issues) causing micrographia, or excessively small and unreadable handwriting.

Anyway, I am not sure what diagnosis Emma actually has - it may be what is known as a "tremor predominant" Parkinson's disease (which overlaps a bit with essential tremor, another neurological movement disorder). It may very well be essential tremor. Or it may be a dystonic tremor which responds, bizarrely, to weird sensory cues, i.e. "gestes antagonistes". If the watch with its vibrating counterweights works for her, great. For most of our Parkinson's patients, it doesn't solve their main issue which is the inability to move or walk, or at least do so well.

Not to mention the cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease which is a whole other can of worms.

Of note: Parkinsonian and essential tremors respond extremely well to implantable deep brain stimulators...that is a whole other topic as well.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#96

Post by member221 »

I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in my mid to late 40's. I had hand tremors for several years. Gradually became worse. I then noticed when I was tired the tremors were worse. I started falling for no apparent reason. I now have stiffness in my legs and need to walk with 2 canes or a walker. I am very slow getting around. I am now 52 years old. I am forgetful at times and have difficulty expressing myself. I have difficulty swallowing at times. I become tired easily, I also become quite dizzy when performing any athletic function (jogging). I was on Levodopa/Carbidopa, 100/25. nothing was really working to help my condition. Finally i started on parkinson's natural herbal formula i ordered from Health HERBAL CLINIC, i read alot of great reviews from other patients who used the parkinson's herbal treatment. My symptoms totally declined over a 4-5 weeks use of the Health herbal clinic Parkinsons disease natural herbal formula. , its effects on parkinson's is amazing, all My symptoms gradually faded away, I have been active and hope to continue! (Visit www. healthherbalclinic. net or email at Info@ healthherbalclinic. net) I recommend this Parkinson's herbal formula for all Parkinson's Patients.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#97

Post by member221 »

I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in my mid to late 40's. I had hand tremors for several years. Gradually became worse. I then noticed when I was tired the tremors were worse. I started falling for no apparent reason. I now have stiffness in my legs and need to walk with 2 canes or a walker. I am very slow getting around. I am now 52 years old. I am forgetful at times and have difficulty expressing myself. I have difficulty swallowing at times. I become tired easily, I also become quite dizzy when performing any athletic function (jogging). I was on Levodopa/Carbidopa, 100/25. nothing was really working to help my condition. Finally i started on parkinson's natural herbal formula i ordered from Health HERBAL CLINIC, i read alot of great reviews from other patients who used the parkinson's herbal treatment. My symptoms totally declined over a 4-5 weeks use of the Health herbal clinic Parkinsons disease natural herbal formula. , its effects on parkinson's is amazing, all My symptoms gradually faded away, I have been active and hope to continue! (Visit www. healthherbalclinic. net or email at Info@ healthherbalclinic. net) I recommend this Parkinson's herbal formula for all Parkinson's Patients.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#98

Post by Cthulhu_ »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #44
erlehmann_ wrote: post #12

> As part of her work, Zhang researched the root cause of tremors. She spent six months, off and on, building prototypes. She sometimes worked in her London home, soldering wires to PC boards and tinkering with coin cell motors to create vibrations. She tested early versions with four other people with Parkinson’s, producing promising results for three, spurring the idea forward, she says. This paragraph reads like t…

This is a PR piece, and it's very interesting. Seems like we're all in such a hurry to de-bunk it, demanding scientific details and open source. If Apple published this, would the reaction be as cynical?

If Apple had published this, it'd be on the market within a few days / months.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#99

Post by piyush_soni »

thefreeman wrote: post #35
erlehmann_ wrote: post #12

> As part of her work, Zhang researched the root cause of tremors. She spent six months, off and on, building prototypes. She sometimes worked in her London home, soldering wires to PC boards and tinkering with coin cell motors to create vibrations. She tested early versions with four other people with Parkinson’s, producing promising results for three, spurring the idea forward, she says. This paragraph reads like t…

One thing that is virtually guaranteed to get you downvotes is complaining about downvotes. Which you do twice in this comment.

I don't think the poster is complaining about the downvotes. He's just trying to understand if there's an unnatural pattern in all these things.

Re: A prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s

#100

Post by simonh »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #44
erlehmann_ wrote: post #12

> As part of her work, Zhang researched the root cause of tremors. She spent six months, off and on, building prototypes. She sometimes worked in her London home, soldering wires to PC boards and tinkering with coin cell motors to create vibrations. She tested early versions with four other people with Parkinson’s, producing promising results for three, spurring the idea forward, she says. This paragraph reads like t…

This is a PR piece, and it's very interesting. Seems like we're all in such a hurry to de-bunk it, demanding scientific details and open source. If Apple published this, would the reaction be as cynical?

Oh come on. The Apple glucose monitor thread has one poster criticising Apple for a cynical money grab because what they should really have done is cure diabetes completely and the only reason they didn't is commercial gain. Honestly, go look. Post by Xoros. There are other cynical takes, one calls Apple's strategy 'cute', but Xoros takes the biscuit.
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