Researchers Use AI To Spot Early Parkinson’s Signs In Breath Patterns
Though the research is in early stages, it builds on work by James Parkinson, whose name is now linked to the disease. Separately, Stat reports a surprising advance made in ALS research using spinal fluid in mice. Electrical-stimulation memory boosting and kidney disease are also in the news.
Stat:
In Early Research, An AI Model Detects Signs Of Parkinson’s Using Breathing Patterns
James Parkinson first flagged a link between changes in breathing patterns and the debilitating disease that now bears his name. But since his work in the early 19th century, only minimal progress has been made in treating a condition that has become alarmingly prevalent. (Ross, 8/22)
Stat:
Unlikely Protein Implicated In Mouse Study Using ALS Patients' Spinal Fluid
It was a shot in the dark — or at best, a dimly lit room: injecting a mouse with a little bit of spinal cord fluid from someone with the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. (Cueto, 8/22)
In research on memory loss —
Stat:
Zapping The Brain With Electricity Boosts Older People’s Memory
Sending weak electrical current into the brain for 20 minutes a day for four days in a row reversed declines in working and long-term memory that come with aging, scientists reported Monday in Nature Neuroscience. (Molteni, 8/22)
USA Today:
Can You Improve Memory? Brain Stimulation Could Help, Study Shows
For four consecutive days, 150 senior citizens pulled on a swim-like cap and allowed parts of their brain to be bathed with low-dose electrical pulses. During 20-minute sessions, they were given five lists of 20 words each and asked to recall them. In some, the oscillations were directed to an area of the brain known to be involved in short-term memory, where a just-learned phone number would be stored. They were tested to see how many recently-mentioned words they remembered. (Weintraub, 8/22)
In research on kidney diseases —
Stat:
Faster Approval Route Sparks Investment In Rare Kidney Disease Treatments
Recent years have seen a surge of research into rarer forms of kidney disease, with drug companies, regulators, and researchers alike hunting for ways to help patients who have few options. (Cueto, 8/23)
Stat:
‘A Golden Age’: Long Neglected In Medicine, Rare Kidney Diseases See A Surge In Research
After having her son, Judy Akin got sick much more often than before, and her blood pressure was on the rise, but she led a busy, active life. The ailments were a consequence of stress, she imagined. Doctors told her she just had to shed some pounds to feel better. (Cueto, 8/23)
