A Spoon Has Made It To Market Designed To Help People With Parkinsons Regain Independence
An estimated seven to 10 million people worldwide are affected by Parkinsons disease. The disease can manifest in the form of involuntary movement that can be debilitating. A few years ago, stabilization technology was implemented in silverware and the results were amazing. This technology allows Parkinsons patients to gain more independence by feeding themselves while living with uncontrollable limb movement. Multiple companies now make a Parkinsons spoon that helps thousands of people who are suffering from this disease.
Why Parkinson’s Spoons Are Important To Me
While it wasn’t a tremor, I’ve had bouts with my autoimmune disease that left me unable to bend my fingers at all for months, making feeding myself extremely difficult. While it shouldn’t be, it’s embarrassing to need help with these simple, everyday things.
As a cane user and wheelchair user in the past, adaptive technology is important to me and I know full well how much it can help.
See Also:
The Best Parkinsons Spoons In 2021 With Reviews
At first glance, Parkinsons spoons might not very different than ordinary utensils. However, these stabilizing spoons are usually wider and heavier than normal kitchen utensils.
Its normal for these spoons to feel strange when you grasp them for the first time. Its going to take a little bit of time for you to get used to their shape and weight.
As such, try using these spoons for at least a few weeks before you decide that theyre not the right fit for you.
Also Check: Caring For Someone With Parkinson’s
Avoid Food/drinks That Make The Tremors Worse
Too much coffee can make any person shake from hands to toes. So, if you have Parkinsons, you should avoid caffeine as much as possible since it can make your shaking worse.
You should also remove chocolate and other foods/drinks containing caffeine from your diet.
Also, pay attention to what you eat and how it influences your tremors so that you can adjust your diet.
Thanks For Signing Up
We are proud to have you as a part of our community. To ensure you receive the latest Parkinsons news, research updates and more, please check your email for a message from us. If you do not see our email, it may be in your spam folder. Just mark as not spam and you should receive our emails as expected.
Read Also: How Do You Treat Parkinson’s Disease Naturally
What Makes The Liftware Steady Spoon Different From A Regular Spoon
People with hand tremors find it very difficult to eat with a regular spoon and this is because of its following 3 main problems.
1. The spoon is flimsy, not sturdy
2. It is not good enough to hold the food
3. It is uncomfortable
The Liftware Steady Spoon, on the other hand, has none of these problems. Here are some of the unique features that make it a revolutionary spoon for people with hand tremors.
Gyroscopic Spoons For Pd Patients
Gyroscopic spoons seem to be hottest thing that every Parkinsons patient is looking out. I would not blame them because everyone including .
Now according to Wikipedia, a gyroscope is a spinning wheel in which the spin axis is free to assume any orientation by itself.
On careful research though, we found out that not every PD patient will benefit from using them.
In the next section, we tell you of how to test whether the gyro spoon will be of benefit to you.
How to know whether the gyro spoon will be of benefit to your PD patient
If your tremors have an amplitude greater than 7cm, then the spoon might not be of help for you and you will need to feed the patient by holding the normal spoon for them.
Since that is out of the way, let us delve into the gyro spoons.
The liftware steady starter kit comes with a spoon, folk and soup spoon.
The liftware spoon reduces hand tremors by 70% and is thus a little bit worse as compared to the gyenno spoon.The handle has motion sensors so that it can detect the direction of your mouth and ease movement towards that side.
Most people think that the lifware spoon will stop their tremors but it is not designed for that. When you eat with this spoon, you will still find yourself trembling but those tremors are absorbed by the liftware handle and as such, you are still able to eat really well.
- Motion sensors help you move food to right place without the embarrassment of it falling off.
- Premium priced
Also Check: What Kills A Person With Parkinson’s Disease
Are Parkinsons Spoons Safe
Some of the Parkinsons stabilizing spoons contain magnets. As such, they can be dangerous for people with cardiac pacemakers, and you shouldnt hold them too close to the body.
To be safe, always read the products instructions and directions. If you have questions, dont be shy to reach the manufacturer or seek your doctor for advice.
Since some Parkinsons spoons have electronic components, you should keep them away from microwaves and heating sources to avoid damage.
Moreover, make sure that you follow the cleaning instructions. Submerging these specialized devices in water might nullify the warranty, and you might not get a replacement.
Also, keep the spoons from aerosol or administered oxygen, as it might produce harmful effects. Wipe the handle after each use to prevent the build-up of bacteria.
Adapts To Your Hand Tremor
Liftware Steady electronically stabilizes so the attached utensil shakes 70%* less than your hand. Worry less about spilling and focus on enjoying your meal.
*As shown in this peer-reviewed and published clinical study.
Watch Kathleen, Satoko, and Berta use Liftware Steady to accommodate their different levels of tremor.
Read Also: Stem Cells For Parkinson’s Disease Therapy
A Spoon For People With Parkinson’s
For those with hand tremors, mealtimes can be moments of frustration rather than enjoyment. Can a high-tech spoon help?
I have very clear memories from when I was a girl of my grandpa sitting at the table, hands fluttering wildly, struggling to get a spoonful from his plate to his mouth without making a mess. His Parkinson’s disease made what should have been a relaxing, comforting meal with family into a stressful battle with his own body.
A new spoon from Lift Labs may help others who suffer from hand tremors that make eating difficult. The spoon counteracts the movements of a wavering grip, reducing the shaking by 70 percent.
A video from Lift Ware shows how it works:
Sara Hendren, an artist and researcher who runs Abler, a site devoted to adaptive technologies and prosthetics, likened the Lift Ware spoon to an “edit” of more familiar flatware. “This kind of ‘edit’ extends self-feeding for its user,” she wrote to me over email, “and maintaining that kind of autonomy can be very significant to one’s own self-perception and the perceptions of others. After all, the experience of change in a person’s ability is registered as much in these qualitative ways as it is in hearing the results of lab tests.”
In a sense, all technologies are “assistive” technologies — eating hot soup with one’s bare hands does not sound particularly effective, nor pleasant. We have invented spoons to extend our limited abilities.
What Are The Different Types Of Tremors
To fully understand the arm movement assessment and how the weighted utensil works, I elaborated on common disease symptoms.
Ive included videos to help explain each one in a bit more detail.
Essential Tremor
Essential tremor common symptoms include trembling in the hands and arms that occur while moving or sitting.
Additional symptoms also occur as head tremors and can also cause a shaking sound if the voice box is affected.
Check out the video below for examples:
Dystonic Tremor
As NIH explains, a dystonic tremor occurs in people who are affected by dystoniaa movement disorder where incorrect messages from the brain cause muscles to be overactive, resulting in abnormal postures or sustained, unwanted movements.
NIH goes on to explain that this type of tremor is most common in young to middle-aged adults and that it can affect any muscle in your body.
This video does a good job of explaining it:
Cerebellar Tremor
Cerebellar tremors are easily seen and occur typically after a purposeful movement. Think pressing the button on your phone or typing on your keyboard.
Damage to the cerebellum the part of your brain responsible for most basic muscle movements- causes these types of tremors.
Its typically caused by strokes, tumors, and degenerative disorders like MS. Also, alcohol abuse can cause chronic damage to the cerebellum.
The video below focuses on this type of tremor in relation to Parkinsons disease.
Psychogenic Tremor
Parkinsonian Tremor
Don’t Miss: Drugs Prescribed For Parkinson’s Disease
Liftware Steady Utensil Starter Kit
For people whose tremors have not yet worsened, this spoon is excellent .
You also get a soup spoon, a joint spoon, and a fork all together with this set. It is equipped with sensors to measure unconscious hand movements, a microprocessor, and a motor to counteract such motions.
More importantly, a liftware spoon can reduce trembling by as much as 70%.
Involuntary Shaking Can Be Caused By Essential Tremors
“I don’t think it took us five minutes to say, ‘This is remarkable,’ ” says Sheila Garner, who oversees two-dozen senior and assisted living facilities in Northern California run by Brookdale Senior Living. She was impressed enough with the Liftware spoon to order some for her residents with essential tremor.
“We’ll be able to free up staff time from assisting people with eating,” Garner says. But her focus, she says, is on restoring the dignity that her residents with essential tremor lost when they could no longer feed themselves.
Engineer and inventor Anupam Pathak was working on stabilizing technology for the Army Research Laboratory when he realized the technology could boost the independence of people with severe tremor. Courtesy of Liftwarehide caption
toggle caption
Engineer and inventor Anupam Pathak was working on stabilizing technology for the Army Research Laboratory when he realized the technology could boost the independence of people with severe tremor.
Pathak says he got the idea while still in grad school. “I was working on technologies for Army Research Lab … to stabilize for soldiers in combat,” he says.
But that wasn’t what really moved him. “I’ve always had this sort of drive,” he says, “of wanting to make technologies with … very personal and immediate impact.”
The product became available commercially last December and at roughly $300 , it’s not cheap. Pathak wouldn’t disclose exactly how many he has sold, but says it’s more than 1,000.
Read Also: Parkinson’s And Boxing Connection
Parkinson Spoon With Self Stabilizing Smart Lift Kitself
- 1.Steady spoon electronically stabilizes so the attached utensil shakes 85% less than your hand. Worry less about spilling and focus on enjoying your meal.
- 2.With easy-to-hold and non-slip ergonomic design,The spoon Weighs just 130g making it perfectly convenient for every meal. The lightweight design improves efficiency when eating. Say goodbye to cold dinners from now on
- 3.Fully charged battery can run three meals a day . It has replaceable battery designed and the Notification Light shows using/battery status.
- 4.Usage Range:If your hand vibration amplitude is within 7cm/2.8inch, Our spoon can help you at the best. Otherwise, the effect will not be obvious
- 5.Applicable to the elderly with insufficient grip strength, suitable for disabled people with upper limbs and nervous system disorders. This is the ideal choice for those with weak grip and reduced hand movements.
Parkinson Spoon For Hand Tremor Gyenno Steady Spoon With Self Stabilizing Smart Lift Kit For Parkinsons Patients Silverware Kit Cutlery For Elderly
- ADAPTS TO YOUR HAND TREMOR GYENNO steady spoon electronically stabilizes so the attached utensil shakes 85% less than your hand. USAGE RANGE: If your hand vibration amplitude is within 7cm/2.8inch, GYENNO SPOON can help you at the best. Otherwise, the effect will not be obvious.
- PACKAGE GYENNO portable tableware includes: a stabilizing handle, a spoon attachment, a fork attachment, a charging box, a charging cable and a user manual with multi languages.
- EXCELLENT QUALITY & SUITABLE SIZE GYENNO tremor spoon has ergonomic design which adapted to the general hands use habit, total weight 130g, easy to hold and to prevent from slippery.
- SUSTAINABLE Fully charged battery can run three meals a day The maximum use of time is 180 minutes). It has replaceable battery designed and the Notification Light shows using/battery status.
- 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE At GYENNO, we have strongly confidence on our products. Every GYENNO product includes an 6-month, worry-free Guarantee.If you have any problem or suggestion, please contact us freely, we will provide friendly support for you in 24 hr.
Don’t Miss: Music Therapy For Parkinson’s
What Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease is a disorder of the central nervous system that leads to cell loss in several areas of the brain. One of those areas is called the substantia nigra which produces dopaminea chemical that transmits signals to facilitate coordination of movement. Without dopamine, neurons fire without control and patients struggle to control their movement. It is due to the impact Parkinsons has on a patients movement that it is considered a movement disorder by clinicians.
For All Kinds Of Meal
Different utensil attachments designed for various food,easy to change and clean
We have designed different utensil attachments for the user
which include an everyday spoon, a fork attachment
GYENNO SPOON smart battery
Only compatible with GYENNO Spoon
intelligent data storage management
Only compatible with GYENNO Spoon
TritanTM medical grade material
the anti – shake system remotely
The operating system will automatically
upload your tremor status to the cloud
system. The cloud system will self generate
algorithm for your hand tremor habit in order
to improve the performance of the handle
This function is currently only available in Mainland China,thefunction can be customized upon disscussion according to thelocal network operators in other countries and regions
The Gyenno Parkinsons Spoon
Gyennos smart Parkinsons spoon has the tagline less shake, less stress on its website where they boast an ability to offset unwanted tremors by 85 percent through their 360-degree stabilization solution.
Similar to the Liftware Steady, the Gyenno Spoon learns the users tremor patterns to better predict unwanted movement for optimal stabilization. The spoon uses cloud technology to store the users tremor status and to generate an algorithm of their hand tremor habits.
The Liftware Steady Parkinsons Spoon
Liftware is one of the first companies to bring a new form of technology to market designed to help people with hand tremor or limited hand and arm mobility retain dignity, confidence, and independence.
Of their two products, the Liftware Steady is designed specifically for people with Parkinsons disease and is designed to enable the person to eat independently. This Parkinsons spoon has an electronic stabilizing handle with a selection of attachments that include a spork, fork, an everyday spoon, and a soup spoon.
The website explains that the Parkinsons spoon has stabilizing technology, which learns the users tremor patterns to learn the difference between unwanted tremors and intended movements of the hand. It then stabilizes while in use so the attachment shakes 70 percent less than the users hand.
The stabilizing handle contains sensors to detect hand motion and a small computer to determine which movements are unwanted tremors. The computer then directs two motors in the handle to move the attachment in the opposite direction of any detected tremor.
The Liftware Steady Parkinsons spoon connects to a dock for easy charging which is included in their starter kit along with the handle, an attachment, and a travel pouch.
How Is Tremor Treated
While most tremors are incurable, there are ways to manage symptoms. In certain circumstances, mild symptoms do not necessitate treatment.
Finding the right treatment requires precise cause identification. Treatment for serious health problems can occasionally alleviate or eliminate tremors.
Once diagnosed, your doctor determines the best course of action. Theres really no one size fits all Parkinsons treatment.
Some patients do well with physical therapy and lifestyle modifications, while others require surgery.
Regardless of treatment though, doctors often recommend certain aids to help make life easier. Among them, the Parkinsons spoon.
Weighted utensils are one of the most essential aids for those with Parkinsons disease. Given the weight of the utensils, it keeps your hands from shaking.
These Weighted Utensils include ergonomic designs that help alleviate tremors, giving more muscle strength, and assists those with sensory problems to have postural control.
Different Tremors And Different Needs
There are many different types of tremors but I’m going to focus here on Parkinson’s tremor and Essential Tremor.
Parkinson’s Tremor occurs is the majority of folks with Parkinson’s and is unique in that it is considered a “resting tremor.” This means the tremor is triggered when that part of the body is at rest.
This is why someone’s hand my shake when resting in their lap but the tremor is reduced when they move their hand to pick something up. As a result, movements like lifting a spoon to your mouth that are slower or involve pausing can be affected.
For resting tremors, movement countering devices tend to have the best success.
Essential Tremor is a condition where the tremor general occurs during action and is better at rest. This still puts action like mealtime at a disadvantage since they hover right in the middle between movement and holding something still.
With Essential Tremor movement canceling devices are often quite effective but weighted utensils can also help reduce tremor.
Keep in mind that a lower portion of people with Parkinson’s can also have an action tremor along with the more typical resting tremor.
A Spoon That Shakes To Counteract Hand Tremors
- EmbedEmbed
The Liftware device, shown here as an early prototype and the final design, starts up automatically when it’s lifted from the table. There’s no “on” switch to fumble with. Ina Jaffe/NPRhide caption
toggle caption
The Liftware device, shown here as an early prototype and the final design, starts up automatically when it’s lifted from the table. There’s no “on” switch to fumble with.
Eating a bowl of cereal in the morning seems like such a simple thing, but it’s close to impossible for some of the 1 million Americans who struggle with the tremors of Parkinson’s disease.
There are also as many as 10 million Americans who have a disorder called essential tremor sometimes mistaken for Parkinson’s which, when severe, also can make eating a struggle.
That’s obvious when Joe Bremhorst tries to eat a bowl of Cheerios. His essential tremor is so strong that the cereal bounces right out of his spoon and back into the bowl. No Cheerios make it as far as his mouth.
This is the problem that engineer Anupam Pathak wanted to solve. He couldn’t cure Bremhorst’s tremor. But he could develop a spoon that would cancel out its effects. He calls the spoon Liftware.
There’s no on switch the spoon starts up automatically when it’s lifted from the table. The chunky handle vibrates a little in the user’s hand.
And that cancels out the tremor as the spoon moves from plate to mouth. In a clinical trial, the Liftware spoon canceled out more than 70 percent of a user’s tremor.