Comments on: Crowdsourced voice recordings: towards a disruptive technology for Parkinson's disease

By: picaflor

picaflor — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Done! So simple. Best of luck with your research!

By: KonstantinS

KonstantinS — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 07:53:00 +0000

from FAQ :

Can I get a diagnosis?No. Although we have shown that the technology can detect Parkinson’s from voice recordings, this initiative is for scientific research only. If you suspect you may have Parkinson’s disease, please visit your primary care provider or neurologist for professional advice.Can I get clinical information about my symptoms?No. As above, although we have shown that using voice recordings in conjunction with specialized algorithms, we can accurately reproduce symptom severity on standard clinical scales, this is a research project and does not provide clinical information. You should only alter your treatment regime in consultation with your primary care provider or neurologist.

By: oasisob1

oasisob1 — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:20:00 +0000

If they discover from my voice sample that I have Parkinson’s, will they call and let me know?

By: Jonathan Roberts

Jonathan Roberts — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 01:03:00 +0000

My grandfather had Parkinson’s later in his life. One of my lasting memories before it really started to affect him was of him climbing a tree with my brothers and me. He came from a family of engineers (his father started the Aldis optical company, which became Rank Aldis in the 50s) and you could see that he had an independent and adventurous spirit until he died. Towards the end of his life he could hardly make any controlled movements and I couldn’t really understand anything he said, which obviously frustrated him a lot. He hated being treated like someone with dementia as his mind was obviously still strong, so one time he escaped from his nursing home and even climbed a short wall despite his disabilities to run away to my uncle’s house. The last time I saw him, he had one of his father’s lenses (I think it was for a slide projector) which he took apart to show me the inner workings. At that point he couldn’t put it back together again, but you could see how much he still loved seeing how things worked and sharing that knowledge with others.

By: Sparky005

Sparky005 — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:04:00 +0000

Easier than giving blood! I made sure my room was quiet, a/c was off etc for the phone call. Not sure it was necessary but it seemed to me the less noise the better.

By: stumo

stumo — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 23:02:00 +0000

I called a month or so ago after seeing an article on the BBC (and also submitted it to BoingBoing, glad it’s got picked up). Really encouraging research, I hope it pays off.

There are local numbers for the USA, Brazil, Mexico, UK, Spain, Argentina, Canada and New Zealand – so hopefully many people can join in

By: Cakey McDoodle

Cakey McDoodle — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 22:22:00 +0000

Done and done. The article wasn’t clear, but after the jump you can see the countries involved here: not just the US! I called from the UK, and there’s a fair few more countries on there :)

By: katkins

katkins — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:29:00 +0000

(Hi Max):

Just before the “gait as an early indicator of dementia” news last week, I was thinking a similar thing about Parkinsons (and related) — that all those fancy footwear stores that have the sophisticated gait sensors could (if privacy regulations and medical ethics issues can be handled) become very early detectors of Parkinsons and dementia…

By: apoxia

apoxia — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:02:00 +0000

I did my PhD at the Van der Veer Institute for Parkinson’s and Brain Research (now the New Zealand Brain Research Institute) where researchers were also looking for biomarkers. They were focused on voluntary eye movements. I understand how difficult this kind of research is. My own research focused on people with Alzheimer’s dementia, another disease with no biomarkers for diagnosis. I wish you well with your research.

By: picaflor

picaflor — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:58:00 +0000

This is awesome. I’ll call later from home.

By: AquaDad18

AquaDad18 — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:26:00 +0000

My Dad got diagnosed with Parkinson’s a few years ago. I was amazed to find out that there wasn’t really any way to test for it.

I’m definitely going to do the call. Thank you so much for this info.