Shakin' Street — A Parkinson's Blog

People with Parkinson’s have questions. The internet has answers.

Finding those answers efficiently is the difficult part. Google can offer links to a bunch of websites, but we’re on our own sorting them out. We can search individual websites such as the Michael J. Fox or Parkinson’s Foundations — helpful, but they may not have answers to the specific questions we have.

Enter ParkiBot, which describes itself as “an AI created for the Parkinson’s Disease community by Composium. Ask anything about Parkinson’s Disease. Made for patients, caregivers, physicians, and researchers.”

The project was launched in 2023 by entrepreneur Lara Scott and venture capitalist/technologist Dan Freedman. Freedman is a PWP, having been diagnosed about 8 years ago.

Like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, ParkiBot has a simple interface where you can ask any questions and quickly receive an answer. Unlike ChatGPT or Gemini, the tool is Parkinson’s-specific, with access to information from thousands of academic papers in addition to the usual internet stuff.

I’ve been experimenting with ParkiBot for a few days, and find the answers much deeper and more reliable than those from the “general” AI tools. Every reply has a “summary” answer, followed by a more detailed answer. Each claim has a citation, with links to the source of the claim.

The tool also suggests topics for further research, along with follow-up prompts to go deeper into the topic.

It’s 100% free — nothing to sign up for, no paid premium membership. Freedman told PD Avengers in a recent interview that there are no plans to make money on this…it’s his gift to the Parkinson’s community.

My impression is that this is will be an incredibly useful tool — a way to jumpstart research for any Parkinson’s-related question that’s on our minds. I plan to use it as a jumping-off point for research, in my work as a peer-to-peer mentor at Parkinson’s Research of Oregon, and to prepare for my next neurologist appointment.

Potential downsides: like any AI chatbot, there’s always the chance that the information it delivers might be inaccurate. There’s a disclaimer at the bottom that says “Confirm information before taking action.”

Competition: Shan Havins of ThriveWellTogether (TWT) is working on another AI-driven tool for Parkinson’s patients. The TWT version will also have an option to talk to actual human beings, which could deliver a higher level of collaboration. TWT hopes to launch this tool in early 2025. Having two AI services at our disposal can only benefit us in our quest for the information we need.
.

Holiday Public Service Message of the Week

During the holiday season, we may experience a worsening of Parkinson’s symptoms. This can cause worry that the disease has progressed.

In most cases, says Dr. Kelly Becker of the Synapse Fitness Foundation, the change is temporary and will go away when holiday festivities are over. Here’s a quick video explaining what’s going on.

Thank you to May Mobbs of Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon for bringing this to my attention.

Bonus for Those Who Read to the Bottom

Hoyt Axton’s mom, Mae Axton, co-wrote “Heartbreak Hotel.” Here’s Hoyt with his own bluesy take on the Elvis classic.

Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Roy Clark play the bejeezus out of Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train.”

.

Al Green does his best impression of Otis Redding covering the Beatles. And it’s a very impressive impression indeed.