Could this glove be the solution to Parkinson's tremors?

A drug-free alternative to treat Parkinson's disease tremors could be on the horizon -- in the form of a glove.

There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological condition that is estimated to affect between 7 and ten million people worldwide, according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

The condition manifests itself mostly through tremors that often make hands shake uncontrollably, impacting the daily lives of sufferers.

What is Parkinson's disease?

While medications are a valid early treatment, they progressively become less effective and come with several side effects.

The proposed GyroGlove uses the laws of physics -- rather than chemistry -- to stabilize a patient's hand and control tremors mechanically.

It's hoped to be effective not just against Parkinson's disease, but also Essential Tremor, a condition eight times more common than Parkinson's Disease, according to the International Essential Tremor Foundation.

"It feels as if your hand is moving in thick treacle," explains Faii Ong, the 26 year old founder of GyroGear, "It means you are able to make smooth, slow movements, and any fine shakes are automatically and instantaneously counteracted. You're able to do whatever you need to do -- make your coffee, cook, that sort of thing."

The science of spinning tops

The glove uses a surprisingly simple concept -- a spinning top -- to help steady the wearer's hand.

Spinning tops stay upright when they spin by converting angular momentum. This means they resist any input of force, such as tremors, immediately and proportionally.

"That's exactly what we're doing with the glove, except that we are hiking it up. We're spinning the disk faster than a jet turbine, at about 20,000 rpm and we are coupling that directly to the hand," says Ong.

Inspired by an elderly patient

As a medical student, Ong witnessed first hand the debilitating effects of tremors, and was inspired to find a solution after seeing an old woman struggling to eat.

For now, GyroGlove is a bulky prototype, but Ong is confident they will be ready to launch the product in the U.K. by September 2016. The glove will have a sales price ranging from £400-£600 (around $600-900).