A chaotic test for Parkinson's.

PARKINSON'S disease treatment; BRAIN diseases; EXTRAPYRAMIDAL disorders; CHAOS theory; DIAGNOSIS

This article focuses on a study conducted by Renat Yulmetyev at Kazan State University in Russia and colleagues, according to which chaos theory can help to monitor the effectiveness of treatment for Parkinson's disease and aid in earlier diagnosis. The researchers have adapted a statistical technique based on chaos theory, and used to study earthquake vibrations, to monitor the distinctive progression of symptoms such as tremors. Yulmetyev says that sixteen people in Canada who had Parkinson's disease held their index fingers in the path of a laser beam for measurements of tremor frequency in their fingers and the team analysed the results. In patients in the early stages of the disease, the tremor pattern is more chaotic.