Latest news with #brainDisorder
Daily Mail
30-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
A smartphone app could help detect early signs of deadly brain disease... leading to earlier treatments
A newly released phone app could help measure early, tell-tale signs of a growing brain disease and provide early treatment options to halt its progression. Researchers at the world's largest dementia conference this week announced the rollout of Neu Health, a software downloaded on smartphones to measures tremors and other motor issues in people with Parkinson's disease. Suffered by about 1million Americans, Parkinson's disease is a progressive brain disorder caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. This leads to movement and speech issues that worsen over time. The disease is on the rise in the US, which experts have suggested could be due to environmental toxins and increased prevalence of ultra-processed foods. Neu Health is a first-of-its-kind software downloaded onto the phones of people with a Parkinson's diagnosis and paid for by doctor's offices. Between medical appointments, doctors can send patients a prompt to complete motor function tests, such as holding the phone in their hand or tapping objects on the screen. The platform has gained FDA clearance this week, allowing it to be marketed in the US and used in doctor offices. It launched 18 months ago in the UK, where 145,000 people have the disorder, and now has about 1,700 participants. Neu Health researchers speaking with are hopeful the technology can help measure signs of Parkinson's early in the disease, potentially stalling progress and slowing the rise of the condition across the US. Caroline Cake, CEO and co-founder of Neu Health, told at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Toronto: 'The aim is to keep it as low burden for the patient as possible, whilst getting the data and things that's needed to actually progressing care. 'We see confidence and knowledge levels increase quite considerably for patients while they're using the product, which is really exciting to see. so they feel a better quality of life as a result of that.' The app is available at Mass General Brigham in Boston and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and now that it has FDA clearance, the company plans to roll it out to other hospitals nationwide. The Parkinson's Foundation estimates 1.2million Americans will be diagnosed with Parkinson's by 2030, and 90,000 are struck by the disease every year. There are roughly 35,000 deaths annually. This is a 50 percent increase from the previously estimated rate of 60,000 a decade ago, the foundation estimates. Experts believe environmental factors could partly be to blame for the rise of Parkinson's disease in the US. Researchers in Minnesota, for example, found exposure to the pollutant particulate matter, PM2.5, raised the risk of Parkinson's disease by 36 percent. Another study published earlier this month also found consuming at least 11 servings of ultra-processed food in a day increased the risk of early Parkinson's symptoms by damaging dopamine-producing neurons. There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, but medications and other treatments can help replace lost dopamine and keep symptoms at bay. Cake noted this rise in Parkinson's makes the advent of simple technology vital to improving patient health over time. Neu Health uses a cell phone's motion sensors and microphone to monitor a patient performing basic exercises like holding the phone, tapping objects on the screen or repeating words or phrases. This is meant to measure the intensity of and changes in tremors, the most tell-tale sign of Parkinson's, as well as shifts in balance, speech patterns and cognitive function. Cake said: 'It's picking up reaction time changes, finger tapping, balance changes, things like that. It's also picking up changes in cognition, medication and self-reported symptoms.' Patients may receive a prompt through the app after doctors have adjusted their medications or started a new treatment to see how well they're working. Cake says this may help doctors make critical adjustments faster without patients having to wait until their next follow-up. She told this website: 'If the clinician says, "Actually, we'll change the medication, or we want to see what happened," you do perhaps another baseline at that point, so you can see what changes happen for you.' A pop-up would show up on the user's phone with a prompt saying their doctor wants them to complete a series of exercises. Users receive a simplified report after and more detailed analytics get sent directly to the doctor. This is especially vital for making Parkinson's care more effective for patients between appointments, which can be several months apart and delayed. Cake said: 'Really importantly, [Neu Health] is also picking up information between [appointments], so you can see when patients are starting to diverge. 'And because these are very complex conditions and there's all sorts of variability there, we can start seeing which patients are actually steady versus which ones actually perhaps need to be seen.' Cake also noted this may help indicate if medication doses need to be increased or if patients are progressing to a more severe stage of Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's symptoms typically begin in a person's mid-60s, which can make things like phone apps a challenge to implement. However, Cake said she was pleasantly surprised during Neu Health's UK rollout, as data showed older users were more likely to follow the app's guidance than younger patients. 'It's a really interesting counter-narrative,' she said. The app will be free for patients and paid for by hospital systems that adopt it. Cake hopes as Neu Health gains a foothold in the US it could also be used for other neurodegenerative disorders like dementia and multiple sclerosis. 'We can now scale this up. How can we do this at scale so that all Parkinson's patients, all dementia patients, are getting this sort of care? So that's exciting for me, the scale and the impact.'
New York Times
26-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Billy Joel: And So It Goes:' 5 Takeaways From the Film's Conclusion
The second part of the sprawling documentary 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes' ends before the musician's recent announcement that he has the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus. That is to say, if you're looking for an update on Joel's health, the film by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, which HBO aired on Friday night (and is streaming on HBO Max), does not provide one. But Joel, in a podcast interview with Bill Maher earlier this week, is seen playing the piano. 'It's not fixed,' he said of his condition, but it's 'being worked on,' and he assured fans: 'I feel good.' 'They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I'm feeling,' he added, likening the sensation to being on a boat with poor balance. While the first half of the film, which premiered in June at the Tribeca Festival, focused on the little-told story of how Joel's relationship with his first wife, Elizabeth Weber, shaped the early days of his career, the second covers more familiar territory. Starting with the production of 'The Nylon Curtain' in 1982, it chronicles his much discussed marriages to Christie Brinkley and Katie Lee Biegel, his well-documented struggles with alcohol, the betrayal of his manager Frank Weber, his decision to retire from the road and eventual return to live performance following the '12-12-12' benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy relief. And still, the nearly two-and-a-half-hour exploration of his life and career makes time to delve into his complicated relationship with his father, Howard, as well as his retreat from producing new pop music and the influence of classical compositions on his work. Here are five takeaways. The Holocaust looms large in Joel's family history. Joel's Jewish identity comes into play heavily during the second part of the documentary, specifically with regard to his fraught relationship with his father, Howard Joel. He describes how in his mid-20s he discovered that his paternal grandfather, Karl Joel, had a textile factory in Nuremberg. The family lived next to the park where the Nuremberg rallies were held and Joel speculates about the trauma his father must have endured watching those unfold as a young Jewish boy. Joel's grandfather was targeted by Nazi propaganda newspaper Der Stürmer and was forced to sell his business, though he was never paid. The Joels escaped Germany over the Swiss border and the factory was ultimately used to manufacture the striped uniforms for prisoners in concentration camps. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Billy Joel surprises NYC pedicab driver playing his iconic Manhattan anthem
Billy Joel left a New York City pedicab driver shocked after the singer stopped on the street. The pedicab driver, who had two female passengers at the time, was playing Joel's "New York State of Mind." Joel began recording a video as he drove past and stopped to say hello. Not realizing it was Joel, the pedicab driver told him: "Next time." Once he realized it was Joel, the driver said: "Oh, Nice. You see, we are playing you, man." The driver asked for a photo as Joel flipped the camera to show him inside the vehicle. "We're in a New York State of Mind…always," Joel captioned the post. Another video of the moment, shared by a fan on social media, showed the pedicab driver snapping a photo of his two riders while Joel remained inside his vehicle. In May, Joel revealed he had been diagnosed with a brain disorder. The musician was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). The brain condition can affect vision, hearing and balance. "I know a lot of people are worried about me and my health, but I'm okay," Joel recently told People magazine. "What I have is something very few people know about, including me, no matter how much you try to research it. I'm doing my best to work with it and to recover from it." Joel claimed while the diagnosis was "disturbing," he is doing fine. "It was scary, but I'm okay," he said. "I just wanted to let people know, don't worry about me being deathly ill or anything." Joel's life and career were showcased in the upcoming HBO documentary, "Billy Joel: And So It Goes." The "Piano Man" singer explained why he's "resisted" sharing his intimate life story. "I've resisted this kind of thing for so long," he told People magazine. "I'm sick of talking about myself. Some of the stupid stuff I did, that's painful to talk about. [But] they asked me for some thematic guidance. I said, 'Just tell the truth.'" The 76-year-old musician said he finds talking about himself to be "almost embarrassing." "My goal was to get it over with," Joel explained about his work on the film. "When I do interviews, people just ask you about yourself and you get a little self-conscious about it eventually. It's almost embarrassing. When you're talking about your personal life detached from the material… I suppose there's a little bit of wariness involved."
The Independent
22-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Billy Joel shares first health update after brain disorder diagnosis: ‘I feel fine'
Billy Joel has disclosed he was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) in May, a brain disorder that led to the cancellation of his upcoming performances and tour dates. The 76-year-old music icon discussed his condition for the first time in an interview with Bill Maher, stating that while doctors are still 'working on it', he feels 'fine' despite his balance being affected. Joel described the condition, previously known as 'water on the brain', as making him feel 'like a boat', though he reiterated he feels 'good' despite the serious-sounding diagnosis. NPH is a rare condition caused by excess cerebrospinal fluid, primarily affecting people over 60, and can lead to neurological symptoms including problems with walking, hearing, vision, and balance. A statement from May confirmed Joel is undergoing physical therapy and is committed to prioritizing his health, with hopes to return to the stage in the future.
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Billy Joel shares first health update after brain disorder diagnosis: 'I feel fine'
Billy Joel has disclosed he was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) in May, a brain disorder that led to the cancellation of his upcoming performances and tour dates. The 76-year-old music icon discussed his condition for the first time in an interview with Bill Maher, stating that while doctors are still 'working on it', he feels 'fine' despite his balance being affected. Joel described the condition, previously known as 'water on the brain', as making him feel 'like a boat', though he reiterated he feels 'good' despite the serious-sounding diagnosis. NPH is a rare condition caused by excess cerebrospinal fluid, primarily affecting people over 60, and can lead to neurological symptoms including problems with walking, hearing, vision, and balance. A statement from May confirmed Joel is undergoing physical therapy and is committed to prioritizing his health, with hopes to return to the stage in the future.
