A new device that looks like a watch. could dramatically change the way Parkinson’s disease is treated. The nervous system disorder, which affects movement, is difficult for doctors to manage because symptoms are hard to track.
Richard Wittenberg is one of the first Parkinson’s disease patients in the country to test this device which tracks his movements every two minutes.
“It’s hard for me to determine in my diary when I feel weaker or stronger. That’s one of the problems I have,” he says. I’m asked these questions and I don’t know the answer to them.”
The personal kinetigraph or PKG is worn on the wrist. It records when Richard takes medication so his neurologist can see how his movements fluctuate with treatment.
Dr. Michele Tagliati is studying the PKG at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. The neurologist says, “in many cases, we’ve been really able to adjust the medications and really improve their quality of life. Or to recommend that they need more aggressive therapies.
Because patients can be monitored when they’re not in the office, the device gives doctors information that otherwise would be impossible to obtain.
Richard has been living with Parkinson’s for 9 years. The 75-year-old hopes the PKG will help better manage his symptoms. “I have 8 grandkids and I want to be able to play with them and I want to be able to be active with them for as long as I can be,” he says.
Researchers plan to enroll 60 patients in their study and say so far early results look promising. Participants wear the device for 6 to 10 days even during sleep.
