Publications by authors named "B R Bloem"

Background And Purpose: Physical activity has beneficial symptomatic effects for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), but increasing-and sustaining-a physically active lifestyle remains challenging. We investigated the feasibility (ability to increase step counts) and usability of a behavioral intervention using a motivational smartphone application to remotely increase physical activity in PD.

Methods: We performed a 4-week, double-blind pilot trial.

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Objective: Parkinson's disease (PD) resting tremor is thought to be initiated in the basal ganglia and amplified in the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit. Because stress worsens tremor, the noradrenergic system may play a role in amplifying tremor. We tested if and how propranolol, a non-selective beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist, reduces PD tremor and whether or not this effect is specific to stressful conditions.

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Article Synopsis
  • Parkinson's disease (PD) symptoms, particularly tremor, evolve differently over time, with bradykinesia and rigidity worsening while positive tremor symptoms may decrease.
  • The study used MRI and clinical assessments over two years to analyze changes in 520 PD patients, focusing on the relationship between tremor and brain structural changes.
  • Findings revealed that while bradykinesia and rigidity worsen with PD progression, action tremors tend to stabilize or diminish, indicating complex relationships between motor symptoms and brain atrophy.
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Parkinson's Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder afflicting almost 12 million people. Increased understanding of its complex and heterogenous disease pathology, etiology and symptom manifestations has resulted in the need to design, capture and interrogate substantial clinical datasets. Herein we advocate how advances in the deployment of artificial intelligence models for Federated Data Analysis and Federated Learning can help spearhead coordinated and sustainable approaches to address this grand challenge.

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