CNBC just reported that Apple upgraded its Apple Watch with a feature that lets Parkies (and their doctors and medical researchers) track tremors, thus knowing better if and when meds are wearing off. This new feature can tell the difference between “normal” movements (of the hands, arms and body) and tremors caused by dyskinesia or that appear when it’s time to take another round of pills.
Furthermore, Apple is working with insurance companies to make the Apple Watch more easily available (that is, cheaper) for people with Parkinson’s.
Two points from the article:
(1) The tremor tracker is just one of many features that will soon appear with an Apple Watch. Click here to learn about the others: Click! (Note: this is rather fresh news; CNBC published this second article online just an hour ago.) With Internet connectivity, a podcast app, Siri, and a walkie-talkie feature so you can live like Dick Tracy, it’s almost as if the Apple Watch is the new iPhone.
(2) I don’t get this section of the article:
Schmidt said one particularly exciting use of the Apple Watch could be for patients to pinpoint precisely when their meds are wearing off throughout the day.
As Schmidt explained, patients will typically ramp up their meds as the disease gets worse. Many will take them three times a day with every meal. But the time between lunch and dinner can sometimes stretch on, making the symptoms more pronounced at around 5 o’clock.
“Many patients don’t know it’s happening and they think they’re getting tired or hungry and symptoms are returning,” he explained. For those patients, taking an earlier dose of meds before dinner can be a big relief. “That small change could help make a big difference with their symptoms.”
When it says “Many [patients] will take [their meds] three time a day with every meal,” that rings false to me. Sinemet (carbidopa/levodopa), which I believe is the drug of choice for many Parkies, needs to be taken on an empty stomach.
Do any readers of this blog differ? Are you taking Parkinson’s meds with meals? I take even my ancillary drugs between meals.
“Take meds on an empty stomach” has always been my understanding
Take meds on an empty stomach half an hour before meals works for me.