According to a story from Medical Xpress, a new monitoring device called the STAT-ON will allow physicians to make more informed decisions regarding changes to treatment for Parkinson’s disease patients. A significant challenge of Parkinson’s disease treatment is understanding how a patient’s symptoms can vary on a day to day basis. The STAT-ON will allow for precise, continuous monitoring of a patient’s disease throughout the day.
About Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a type of long term, progressive, degenerative illness that affects the central nervous system. Symptoms tend to develop over a period of years and primarily affect the movement ability and mental state of the patient. The cause of Parkinson’s disease remains a mystery, although there are a number of risk factors that have been identified. These factors include head injuries, pesticide exposure, and certain genetic variants and mutations. About 15 percent of patients have a close relative with the disease, suggesting some genetic connection. Symptoms include slowed movements, poor coordination, trouble walking, shaking, stiffness, abnormal posture, depression, anxiety, inhibited thinking, hallucinations, and dementia. Treatment may involve a number of medications, rehabilitation, and surgical operations. Survival rate varies, but most patients survive around a decade after getting diagnosed. To learn more about Parkinson’s disease, click here.
Why Monitoring Symptoms is Important
The standard therapy for Parkinson’s is a drug called levodopa, which is able to offer good control of symptoms for about two years on average. However, as the disease progresses, levodopa’s effects begin to wear off more quickly. This leads to periods of symptom fluctuations that can appear between doses and affect around half of all Parkinson’s disease patients.
Controlling these fluctuations has been a major disease management challenge. Patients are often asked to keep a diary of their symptoms, but this is not always a reliable method. STAT-ON is able to monitor fluctuations with much more precision and without asking anything of the patient. This will ultimately allow for physicians to understand with greater clarity how a patient’s treatment can be improved in order to suit their needs and maintain good quality of life.
STAT-ON tailors itself to each individual patient, learning more about their symptoms the longer it is used. Using artificial intelligence, the device develops custom algorithms in order to register the patient’s disease activity. The device is simple to use and non-invasive. With the introduction of STAT-ON, doctors will have greater capabilities for Parkinson’s disease treatment than ever before.
