"Scientists have known that people with Parkinson's disease showed that the arm swing distance dwindle during the final stages of the disease, but no one can easily measure it. We found that Parkinson's patients not only reduced arm swing, but the swinging arm is also not symmetrical. The swing arm are not symmetrical can be easily detected in early disease progression, "said Stephen Piazza, professor of kinesiology as reported by ScienceDaily, Tuesday (27/12/2011).
There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, but if treated early, certain drugs may reduce some symptoms and even reduce the likelihood of death. Some people also believe that changes in nutrition and lifestyle factors can alter disease progression.
In a research report published journal gait & Posture, the researchers attach accelerometers are cheap on the arm of the eight patients with Parkinson's disease who are at early stages of the disease, ie within three years after clinical diagnosis.
Researchers also attach accelerometers to the arm of eight people who did not have Parkinson's disease by age and sex with patients.
All of the research team asked participants to walk continuously for about eight minutes at a speed that feels comfortable. The researchers download the data acceleration via software that has been developed to analyze the distance of the swing arm.
According to Joseph Cusumano, a professor of engineering science and mechanics, the lower the cross-correlation and synchronization of both arms showed reduced coordination of arm movements that bad.
"In other words, if I measure the location of the right arm, it is difficult to predict the location of the left arm. Parkinson's disease affects the way the motion. The neurologists have used this fact as the basis of clinical examination for a very long time. But we for the first time, we can precisely measure how the effect of the disease is not only against the amount of movement, but also the coordination of movement, "said Prof. Cusumano.
To diagnose patients with early Parkinson's disease, some doctors and scientists have proposed the use of smell tests for this disease lose their ability to distinguish odors.
"But conditions other than Parkinson's disease can also affect a person's ability to sniff out the smell," said Huang Xuemei, movement disorder physicians at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Evaluation methods swing arm can be applied quickly and inexpensively by a physician in his office when the smell test is not sufficiently convincing and before undergoing brain scans are expensive.
"Measuring the swing arm is no symmetry with our method is perhaps the cheapest and most effective way to detect early Parkinson's disease, when patients may still be treated symptoms of the disease," said Piazza.
The scientists plan to investigate further whether the test evaluates the swing arm in combination with olfactory tests may further improve early diagnosis.
Scientists also plan to develop the technique so that the accelerometer can provide a direct reading, so it would cut steps to download data to a computer and analyze it, and make a test swing arm Parkinson's disease easier.
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