CleveMed Blogs

Sleep Medicine with Michael Papsidero, MD

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. The signs of Parkinson’s disease can be classified into three main categories: primary motor symptoms, secondary motor symptoms, and non-motor symptoms. Since Parkinson’s disease symptoms can range from motor to cognitive, coping with Parkinson’s disease can be very challenging.

Primary Motor Symptoms:

The primary Parkinson’s disease motor symptoms include resting tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movements), rigidity, and postural instability.

• Resting Tremor, the most common primary motor symptom of PD affects approximately 70% of people with Parkinson’s disease.¹ Tremor can affect the hand, foot, one side of the body, the jaw, and even the face. Since PD’s tremor is characterized mostly by resting tremor, the tremor occurs when the affected body part is not doing work and it usually subsides when the individual begins an action. Severe tremor can impair a person’s ability to perform everyday tasks, such as eating and getting dressed. (View video)
• Bradykinesia is characterized by slowed movements and incomplete movements. Furthermore, individuals who experience bradykinesia may have difficulty initiating movements, as well as sudden stopping of an ongoing movement, often called “freezing”.¹ Bradykinesia can significantly affect tasks such as walking.
• Rigidity is characterized by stiffness and inflexibility of the muscles.
• Postural Instability is characterized by impaired balance and coordination.

It is clear that the presence of one or more of the primary PD motor symptoms can be extremely detrimental to an individual’s quality of life.

Secondary Motor Symptoms:

The secondary Parkinson’s disease motor symptoms include symptoms such as stooped posture, fatigue, speech problems, and loss of facial expressions. Some individuals affected by PD may also experience drooling, difficulty swallowing, and sexual dysfunction.

Non-motor Symptoms:

Furthermore, there are non-motor symptoms of PD, which include confusion, sleep disturbances, constipation, skin problems, depression, anxiety, slowed thinking, urinary problems, fatigue, loss of energy, and compulsive behavior.

As I mentioned before, because Parkinson’s disease symptoms can range from motor to cognitive, coping with Parkinson’s disease can be very challenging.Currently, relatively little is known about the disease, and many research groups are attempting to determine both the cause and source of PD. Studying the symptoms with appropriate tools (like wireless accelerometers) can give clinicians and researchers clues into the underlying mechanisms that cause them.

CleveMed continues to design and build medical devices to monitor and measure Parkinson’s disease symptoms.

CleveMed announces launch of eCrystal PSG web portal, allowing physicians to seamlessly access sleep study information and share results with staff and a network of sleep specialists, providing convenience for patients, proper assessment for the provider, and cost benefits for the payer.

eCrystal PSG™ is a web portal that allows physicians to seamlessly access sleep study information and share results with other staff and specialists over a secured internet connection, creating an efficient method to detect and track sleep apnea. The web portal works hand-in-hand with a number of CleveMed home monitors like SleepView™, which records physiological data while the patient sleeps at home. Once the monitor is returned to the physician, data is uploaded to eCrystal PSG and sent to a sleep technologist for review and scoring. Via the web portal, ordering physicians can also connect with state-licensed sleep doctors for proper interpretation of the sleep study. With this product, CleveMed offers the widest range of portable sleep monitors in the market today strengthening its leading position in the market place.

"Testing for sleep apnea in the home, if conducted properly, can offer convenience for the patient, proper assessment for the provider, and cost benefit for the payer," said Hani Kayyali, the president of CleveMed. "With the addition of the web portal, our breadth of products and services are poised to lead the way in the proper implementation of home healthcare for sleep disorders."

"As we move forward into the next chapter in sleep medicine, it is critical that we continue to rely on the expertise of sleep physicians to ensure proper study interpretation," said Dr. Mike Papsidero, CleveMed’s Chief Medical Officer. "CleveMed’s web technologies ensure great quality, convenience and connectivity to a network of sleep physicians, all of which improve patient care and maintain key advantages over the competition."

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/clevemed/eCrystalPSG/prweb4654264.htm

Cleveland, Ohio – Oct 12, 2010 CleveMed, a leader in sleep disorders monitoring devices announces the launch of eCrystal PSG, its newest product. eCrystal PSG is a web portal that allows physicians to seamlessly access sleep study information and share results with other staff and specialists over a secured internet connection, creating an efficient method to detect and track sleep apnea. The web portal works hand-in-hand with a number of CleveMed home monitors like SleepView™, which records physiological data while the patient sleeps at home. Once the monitor is returned to the physician, data is uploaded to eCrystal PSG and sent to a sleep technologist for review and scoring. Via the web portal, ordering physicians can also connect with state-licensed sleep doctors for proper interpretation of the sleep study. With this product, CleveMed offers the widest range of portable sleep monitors in the market today strengthening its leading position in the market place.

“Testing for sleep apnea in the home, if conducted properly, can offer convenience for the patient, proper assessment for the provider, and cost benefit for the payer”, said Hani Kayyali, the president of CleveMed, “with the addition of the web portal, our breadth of products and services are poised to lead the way in the proper implementation of home healthcare for sleep disorders”.

“As we move forward into the next chapter in sleep medicine, it is critical that we continue to rely on the expertise of sleep physicians to ensure proper study interpretation”, said Mike Papsidero M.D., Chief Medical Officer for CleveMed. “CleveMed’s web technologies ensure great quality, convenience and connectivity to a network of sleep physicians, all of which improve patient care and maintain key advantages over the competition”.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder that prevents breathing during the night and affects more than 15 million patients. Although effective treatment exists, the vast majority of patients (80%) remain undiagnosed and untreated due to the expense and inconvenience of current testing methods. CleveMed’s family of portable sleep testing products effectively addresses this issue by facilitating evaluation in the home.

About CleveMed

CleveMed is pioneering the use of novel wireless monitoring systems for high growth neurology and rehabilitation applications. Through these innovations, CleveMed has developed a growing range of products that address the needs of the medical, research and academic communities around the world. Cleveland Medical Devices Inc.’s mission is to develop, manufacture and market rehabilitation and monitoring products that improve quality of life and allow patients to leave the hospital earlier, thus lowering total health care costs. For more information, please visit www.CleveMed.com.

For More Information Contact:

Amy Rickard
Cleveland Medical Devices Inc.
P: 216.791.6720 | F: 216.791.6739
arickard@clevemed.com
www.clevemed.com