Parkinson’s disease affects brain cells called dopaminergic neurons, located in an area of the brain known as the substantia nigra. This causes motor symptoms such as tremors, stiffness (stiffness) and slowness of movement. By the time these symptoms characteristic of Parkinson’s disease begin to appear and a clinical diagnosis can be made, more than half of the cells in the substantia nigra will have already died.
Parkinson’s disease
Therefore, researchers are looking for cheap, reliable and easily accessible methods to detect these changes in the weather, so that they can intervene before the disease causes extensive damage to the brain, according to News.ro.
Smart watches could identify Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before the characteristic symptoms appear and a clinical diagnosis is established, a new study shows.
The scientists analyzed, in the new study, the data collected by the smart watches over a period of 7 days, measuring the movement speed of the participants.
They found that they could accurately predict, using artificial intelligence (AI), which of them would later develop Parkinson’s disease.
The researchers say this could be used as a new screening tool for Parkinson’s disease, allowing the condition to be detected at a much earlier stage than current methods allow.
The study was led by scientists from the UK’s Dementia Research Institute and Cardiff University’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute (NMHII).
The study was published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.
Researchers analyzed data collected from 103,712 UK Biobank participants who wore a medical-grade smartwatch for a 7-day period between 2013 and 2016.
The devices measured the average acceleration, that is, the speed of movement, continuously during the one-week period.
They compared data from a subgroup of participants who had already been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, with another group who received a diagnosis up to seven years after the smartwatch data was collected.
These groups were also compared with healthy individuals of the same age and sex.
Researchers have shown that, using artificial intelligence, it is possible to identify participants who will later develop Parkinson’s disease using smartwatch data.
Not only were these participants able to be distinguished from healthy controls in the study, but the researchers then extended this to show that AI can be used to identify people who will later develop Parkinson’s disease in the general population.
They found that this was more accurate than any other risk factor or any other recognized early sign of the disease in predicting whether someone would develop Parkinson’s disease.
The model was also able to predict time to diagnosis.
A limitation of the study could be the lack of replication using another data source, as there are currently no other comparable data sets that would allow for a similar analysis.
However, extensive evaluation was conducted to mitigate any bias, the study authors say.
“Smartwatch data is easily accessible and low-cost. By 2020, around 30% of the British population will be wearing smart watches. By using this type of data, we could potentially be able to identify people in the very early stages of Parkinson’s disease in the general population,” said study leader Dr. Cynthia Sandor, leader of the UK’s Dementia Research Institute at the University Cardiff, writes stiripesurse.ro.
“We have demonstrated here that a single week of data can predict events up to seven years into the future,” she said.
With these results, scientists could develop a valuable screening tool to help in the early detection of Parkinson’s disease.
This has implications both for research, by improving recruitment to clinical trials, and for clinical practice, allowing patients to access treatments at an earlier stage in the future when such treatments become available.
Dr Kathryn Peall, NMHII Senior Clinical Lecturer at Cardiff University, said:
“For most people with Parkinson’s disease, by the time they start having symptoms, many of the affected brain cells have already been lost. So the real challenge is the early diagnosis of the condition,” said Dr. Kathryn Peall, senior clinical lecturer in the NMHII at Cardiff University.
While the findings are not intended to replace existing diagnostic methods, the smartwatch data could provide a useful screening tool to help detect the disease early, the study’s authors say.
This means that as new treatments begin to emerge, people will be able to access them before the disease causes extensive brain damage, the study authors say.
2023-07-09 21:31:39
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