Smartwatches may help detect Parkinson's 7 years before symptoms appear

Smartwatches could identify Parkinsons disease up to seven years before hallmark symptoms appear and a clinical diagnosis can be made according to new researchResearchers from Cardiff University in the UK showed that combining smartwatch data of just one week with artificial intelligence AI can help identify people who would about seven years later go on to develop Parkinsons diseaseThey say this could be used as a new screening tool for Parkinsons disease which would enable detection of the disorder at a much earlier stage than current methods allowSmart watch data is easily accessible and lowcost By using this type of data we would potentially be able to identify individuals in the very early stages of Parkinsons disease within the general population said Dr Cynthia Sandor from the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff UniversityWe have shown here that a single week of data captured can predict events up to seven years in the future With these results we could develop a valuable screening tool to aid in the early detection of Parkinsons she addedParkinsons affects cells in the brain called dopaminergic neurons located in an area of the brain known as the substantia nigraIt causes motor symptoms such as tremor rigidity stiffness and slowness of movementBy the time these hallmark symptoms of Parkinsons begin to show and a clinical diagnosis can be made more than half of the cells in the substantia nigra will already have diedTherefore there is a need for cheap reliable and easily accessible methods to detect early changes so that intervention can be made before the disease causes extensive damage to the brain the researchers saidThey analysed data collected from 103712 UK participants who wore a medicalgrade smartwatch for a sevenday period in 2013 to 2016The devices measured average acceleration meaning speed of movement continuously over the weeklong periodThey compared data from a subset of participants who had already been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease to another group who received a diagnosis up to seven years after the smartwatch data was collectedHowever a limitation to the study is the lack of replication using another data source as there are currently no other comparable data sets that would allow for similar analysis However extensive evaluation was performed to mitigate any biases Sandor saidAlso Read ldquoWhy do I have constant shoulder painrdquo Expert shares causes and treatmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever