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I have essential tremor not quite as bad as shown in the video but bad enough I'd be interested in such a spoon. I've tried Propranolol, a common tremor treati

I have essential tremor not quite as bad as shown in the video but bad enough I'd be interested in such a spoon. I've tried Propranolol, a common tremor treating medication, but found the side effects (drowsiness) too unpleasant for frequent use. I have an anesthesiologist friend who reminds me of the surgery option every so often but brain surgery doesn't strike me as elegant as much as serious and invasive. My friend assures me it would be fun, but I think he means for him, not me.

fossuser 12y ago
Obviously something like brain surgery shouldn't be taken lightly, but I've had a family friend with tremors go through the process and the result is pretty amazing. Went from pretty severe tremors to appearing basically completely cured. This is a pretty good example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0
- te_platt 12y ago
  I completely agree. How someone decides to treat a condition is a deeply personal choice and I certainly didn't mean for my comment to be a recommendation for anyone else. Just that this spoon looks like a great option for a lot of people, me in particular.
caycep 12y ago
It is a personal decision whether to go to surgery or not, but our group really believes in letting patients known all the options. The spoon only solves one problem - scooping up liquid food. One can argue that a fork or knife version could help with other food. It doesn't solve writing, playing instruments, typing. Shaving may be a little too delicate for something like this. DBS when done right solves all of this. The problem with DBS is that best practices for implantation can vary widely, and I've seen it done really poorly, either with surgical groups with crappy experience w/ a lot of infections or poorly targeted leads that are many millimeters off the intended brain target. Our group prides ourselves in being pretty accurate most of the time, and with a complication rate of < 1%; of which I can't recall anyone who had a serious hemorrhage or death from this. One thing to note, it's a stereotactic neurosurgical setup, which means our surgeon uses a skull mounted frame that inserts the implant in a 1 cm burr hole. It's not a typical open craniotomy where a large segment of the skull gets removed. So in a sense, yes, it is invasive, but no, it's not as invasive as full blown surgery. We make sure all our patients who are candidates are aware of the risks and what the surgery entails going forward - both the eager beavers raring at the bit and the reluctant folks who are afraid of it. Many of them choose it, some of them don't. Some of them don't qualify, and that's every bit their decision.

fossuser 12y ago

Obviously something like brain surgery shouldn't be taken lightly, but I've had a family friend with tremors go through the process and the result is pretty amazing. Went from pretty severe tremors to appearing basically completely cured. This is a pretty good example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0

te_platt 12y ago
I completely agree. How someone decides to treat a condition is a deeply personal choice and I certainly didn't mean for my comment to be a recommendation for anyone else. Just that this spoon looks like a great option for a lot of people, me in particular.

caycep 12y ago

It is a personal decision whether to go to surgery or not, but our group really believes in letting patients known all the options. The spoon only solves one problem - scooping up liquid food. One can argue that a fork or knife version could help with other food. It doesn't solve writing, playing instruments, typing. Shaving may be a little too delicate for something like this. DBS when done right solves all of this. The problem with DBS is that best practices for implantation can vary widely, and I've seen it done really poorly, either with surgical groups with crappy experience w/ a lot of infections or poorly targeted leads that are many millimeters off the intended brain target. Our group prides ourselves in being pretty accurate most of the time, and with a complication rate of < 1%; of which I can't recall anyone who had a serious hemorrhage or death from this. One thing to note, it's a stereotactic neurosurgical setup, which means our surgeon uses a skull mounted frame that inserts the implant in a 1 cm burr hole. It's not a typical open craniotomy where a large segment of the skull gets removed. So in a sense, yes, it is invasive, but no, it's not as invasive as full blown surgery. We make sure all our patients who are candidates are aware of the risks and what the surgery entails going forward - both the eager beavers raring at the bit and the reluctant folks who are afraid of it. Many of them choose it, some of them don't. Some of them don't qualify, and that's every bit their decision.