Could GPS Tracking Technology Help Diagnose Dementia Sooner?

Individuals with dementia may soon have early diagnosis, thanks to advanced GPS tracking technology.

Global positioning systems (GPS) are used in the modern day for much more than maps and driving directions. They are frequently used by researchers to determine how to protect endangered animals, capture poachers, and help track down criminals.

This technology is also being used by researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada who are studying dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers at Waterloo have created a smartphone app that will use the GPS tracking technology already placed inside the phone that can look at the link between dementia and how well the person moves on a daily basis.

It is based on the life space of a person, which is the area they travel each day. The tracking technology is able to look at how comfortable they are in their current environment, and see when things begin to change.

As people start developing early stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s, their behavior and life space changes. Their reaction times and how they move or their comfort level in their life space starts to change, which is why researchers believe the app will be a useful tool.

Pascal Poupart, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo in the computer science department, is a co-leader of the study. He believes there is a connection between reducing your life space and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Unfortunately, previous methods of determining the life space relied on people who are already having signs of the disease, who might not recall exactly how, when or where things changed. The memory loss associated with the conditions makes this very difficult to figure out.

By having the GPS data and app on the person’s phone, it can track their daily movements and activities. Through this data, the app should be able to determine when the life space begins to change from what it once was. The daily routines are adjusted without warning, and the Alzheimer’s or dementia patients show a considerably smaller life space than adults without the condition.

One of the first signs is that individuals with dementia become less physically active because their functional abilities are deteriorating. They also get away from their previous patterns due to memory loss and an overall change in abilities.

Currently, it takes quite a bit of imaging tests and visual observation to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. At this point, the disease is already progressing, so medications only help to manage it, but don’t help to prevent it or necessarily slow it down.

Researchers believe they can benefit from early diagnosis, even going so far as to develop better drugs that help keep the symptoms of the disease at bay for longer periods of time.

They also believe this app can help analyze the effectiveness of various Alzheimer’s and dementia prescription drugs.

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