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Old 07-11-2009, 04:29 PM
johnt johnt is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Stafford, UK
Posts: 1,059
15 yr Member
johnt johnt is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Stafford, UK
Posts: 1,059
15 yr Member
Default Measuring small changes in PD symptoms

Hi,

I'm new on this forum, so let me introduce myself: 53 years old; PD for 4 years; presently on Azilect 1 mg/day, Requip XL 16 mg/day; English; background in computing and math.

Given that background, it's perhaps not suprising that I'm keen on measuring my PD symptoms in order to assess the effect of drug and lifestyle changes.

I'm interested in measuring changes of just a few percent. For this purpose, I find scales such as UPDRS too granular. Am I missing something in this respect?

I run a series of tests on myself. These include timing how long it takes to:
- screw and unscrew nuts and bolts;
- rotate bolts length-ways;
- put on and take off a coat.
These tests take about 30 minutes to complete. In addition, I time walks that I make. That leaves plenty of things left unmeasured: tremor, balance, etc..

What measurements do other people use?

It would be great if the PD community had enough data to say things like:
"doing/taking X leads to an average y% change in symptoms".

John
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