PatientsLikeMe member MLR was an avid BMX (Bicycle Motocross), MTB (Mountain Bike Racing) and Motocross athlete his entire life – until he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) last year. After having to give up the sport he loved, MLR began to suffer from depression. Today, however, he’s happy to report that he’s racing again… Continue reading Competing Against MS: An Interview with MLR
Learn from Others with BVVP (Positional Vertigo)
BVVP (more commonly abbreviated as BPPV) stands for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. A disorder caused by inner ear problems, it is characterized by repeated episodes of positional vertigo that are triggered by repositioning or moving the head. This produces a spinning sensation that disorients the BVVP/BPPV patient. At PatientsLikeMe, patients are sharing their experiences with… Continue reading Learn from Others with BVVP (Positional Vertigo)
What Does it Mean When You Have Cold Legs?
If you’ve experienced cold legs yourself, we encourage you to share your experiences to help other patients. PatientsLikeMe’s unique data-sharing platform allows you to share detailed data about all types of treatments, interventions, and lifestyle modifications that have helped you or simply had no effectHave you suddenly realized that your legs are cold? You’re sitting… Continue reading What Does it Mean When You Have Cold Legs?
FDA’s New Guidance on Patient-Reported Outcomes
We’re big fans of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) here at PatientsLikeMe, defined by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as: “A measurement based on a report that comes directly from the patient about the status of a patient’s health condition without amendment or interpretation of the patient’s response by a clinician or anyone else.” The self-report… Continue reading FDA’s New Guidance on Patient-Reported Outcomes
Gambling in online PD patients higher than previously reported
When most people think of Parkinson’s disease (PD), they think of a shuffling gait, a shaky hand, and slowness of movement. As awareness has increased of the non-movement symptoms of PD, such as hallucinations and depression, we’ve seen the psychological consequences the disease can have too. More recently, studies in the scientific literature have been… Continue reading Gambling in online PD patients higher than previously reported
Annoyed or Impressed By Your Therapist? PatientsLikeMe Mood Members Chime In
In a recent blog post by New York Times’ Tara Parker-Pope, PsychCentral highlights “The 12 Most Annoying Habits of Therapists.” Launched a year ago this week, our very own Mood community has more than 1,300 patients using “Individual Therapy” as a treatment for their condition. We asked them to tell us some of the habits… Continue reading Annoyed or Impressed By Your Therapist? PatientsLikeMe Mood Members Chime In
We Share Too! Contributing Open Source Code
“Open source software” is created and improved collaboratively, over the web, by the people who need it, even if they work for different companies in different industries on different continents. Similar to our Openness Philosophy, the premise behind open source software is that none of us is as smart as all of us. Software developers… Continue reading We Share Too! Contributing Open Source Code
Let’s make clinical trials more rewarding for patients
I came across this Wall Street Journal article earlier this week which details how patients with life-changing illnesses are using online services such as EmergingMed to help them enroll in clinical trials. The article points out that only 3% of adult cancer patients participate in trials, citing lack of awareness as a crucial factor. They… Continue reading Let’s make clinical trials more rewarding for patients
ALS Patients: Give us the truth about cognitive change
One of the things we’re most proud of at PatientsLikeMe is our ability to rapidly carry out research. There are some obvious benefits online: patients can can take part whenever they want, take as much time as they need (often using assistive technology), and are more likely to be open and honest about subjects that… Continue reading ALS Patients: Give us the truth about cognitive change
PatientsLikeMe Featured in New York Times Magazine
In one of the greatest honors in our young company to date, PatientsLikeMe was featured in today’s New York Times Magazine. The article, entitled Practicing Patients, appropriately discusses the pros and cons associated with sharing data-rich personal health information in an open community. PatientsLikeMe seeks to go a mile deeper than health-information sites like WebMD… Continue reading PatientsLikeMe Featured in New York Times Magazine