In This Article
By GreenMedInfo Research Group
Simple and enjoyable physical activities, such as bicycling, dancing, and tai chi can lead to significant improvements in physical and mental symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and in some cases even slowing the progression of the disease.
According to data published in Frontiers in Public Health, Parkinson’s disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, and has grown the fastest in terms of both prevalence and disability among neurological disorders worldwide.
With no known cures, those diagnosed with Parkinson’s are treated on a case-by-case basis, with treatments directed at symptom relief. There are, however, many natural approaches that may help improve outcomes and quality of life, including specific physical and mind-body activities.
Yoga Meditation for Parkinson’s
Yoga meditation, or YoMed, combines the mind-body elements of yoga’s physical postures with the relaxation and breathing techniques used in meditation. Together, yoga meditation may lead to benefits above and beyond yoga or meditation performed separately. This appears true for Parkinson’s disease, which involves problems with moving or walking, tremors, and trouble with balance and falls.
In a 2021 randomized controlled trial, subjects with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease engaged in either YoMed or a proprioceptive training program twice weekly for twelve weeks. Better outcomes were observed among the YoMed group, including significant improvements in dynamic posturography—a method for quantifying balance.1 Study authors noted, “Interventions that adopt cognitive and movement training have been shown to facilitate kinesthetic abilities in PD patients…The YoMed program was shown to be well-tolerated, safe, accessible, and required minimal staffing to implement.”
Yoga also plays a role in helping manage the mental effects of Parkinson’s and has been found to lead to long-lasting decreases in depression.2 A 2021 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that yoga was not only found to improve motor function, balance, and functional mobility, but it also reduced non-motor symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, and by extension, improved quality of life. “A statistically significant effect on depressive symptoms in patients with PD was observed in our meta-analysis,” study authors concluded.
Bicycling
Even when struggling with gait disturbances, many people with Parkinson’s disease can ride a bicycle—and doing so may lead to physical and mental benefits. In a 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis, bicycling was found to be particularly beneficial for motor performance, including improving features of gait.
According to the researchers, “In 2010 it was reported that some individuals diagnosed with PD, while indicating severe freezing of gait (FOG), were nevertheless able to ride a bicycle easily. Since then, the ability to preserve the skill to ride a bicycle, while otherwise being severely limited by the symptoms of PD, has been shown to positively influence cardiovascular fitness, motor skills, overall coping, feeling of independency, social inclusion, and cognitive skill… Conclusively, bicycling is particularly beneficial for the motor performance of PD patients, improving crucial features of gait. Furthermore, our findings suggest that bicycling improves the overall quality-of-life of PD patients.”3
While there is no conclusive evidence that exercise-based training such as bicycling can stop disease progression, researchers noted that it can be considered disease-modifying—capable of delaying the pathological disease process.
Dancing
Dancing, particularly tango, has been surprisingly extensively studied for Parkinson’s disease. Research suggests it improves quality of life, self-esteem, and coping, along with enhancing gait and balance.
Tango is unique in that it not only involves the physical activity of dance but combines it with working with a partner—adding a social component. “Dance represents a multifaceted activity that stimulates the auditory, visual, and sensory systems, as well as provides opportunities for musical experience; social engagement; memory development; motor learning; and affective observation, expression, and interaction,” study authors explain. “Numerous studies show that people with Parkinson’s disease are enthusiastic about attending dancing classes on a consistent basis, exhibit high compliance, and have a proclivity to continue participating after the study is over.”4
Additionally, the music involved while dancing adds another layer of potential neurological benefit. The authors add, “Apart from the precise moves, tango, like other dances, requires synchronization of movement to music. External acoustic cues could be provided through music. Use of these signals to aid movement has been shown to be advantageous for those with Parkinson’s disease. External cues have the potential to contact cortical circuitry, bypassing the malfunctioning basal ganglia…We believe that tango dancing, as a multitasking activity that incorporates auditory, visual, and sensory signals, provides a pleasurable method of rehabilitation for Parkinson’s disease patients by enabling them to engage with motion via the melody of music.”
Even attending a one-hour dance class twice a week may yield benefits. In a comparative study that examined tango and waltz/foxtrot, both dances led to significant improvements in balance, locomotion, and motor control (eg, backward stride length) after study subjects completed twenty lessons within thirteen weeks.”5
Qigong, Tai Chi, and Ai Chi
Qigong—a mind-body exercise that incorporates meditation, deep breathing, and body movements—may be useful for improving the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which include sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and poor quality of life. People with Parkinson’s who engaged in qigong for twelve weeks experienced significant improvements in sleep quality and overall non-motor symptoms in a 2020 pilot randomized controlled trial.6
Motor symptoms were also improved by qigong in a 2020 meta-analysis of 325 people with Parkinson’s. Those who engaged in qigong had improvements in walking ability, balance, and other motor symptoms, with researchers calling it a “beneficial alternative therapy.”7
Similar to qigong, tai chi’s gentle, flowing movements are known for improving strength, balance, and postural alignment while boosting concentration and relaxation. When used by people with Parkinson’s disease, a 2021 systemic review and meta-analysis found that tai chi can lead to improvements in motor function, balance, and bradykinesia (slowness of movement).8
In a 2020 retrospective cohort analysis in which subjects with early- or mild-stage Parkinson’s participated in tai chi eighty minutes per day, three times per week, for two months, tai chi led to greater improvements in walking speed, functional reach, and the time to “up-and-go” compared to routine exercise. Plus, the incidence of falls also decreased. Study authors found, “Tai chi had the potential to slow down the progression of symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and delayed the introduction of levodopa.”9
Ai chi is a gentle exercise similar to tai chi but is practiced in the water. When performed twice weekly for eleven weeks, it led to reductions in Parkinson’s symptoms, including bradykinesia and rigidity. “Ai chi, created in 1996 by Jun Konno in Japan, is one of the possible therapies for these patients. Based on a combination of tai chi and qigong, physiotherapists trained in this technique verbally and visually guide patients through a combination of slow and coordinated rhythmic movements involving the upper and lower limbs and the trunk of the body, while standing in a pool,” lead study author wrote:
The results of this 11-week controlled study suggest that aquatic ai chi applied twice weekly can significantly reduce Parkinsonian symptoms as measured by different motor symptoms, bradykinesia, and rigidity. Aquatic ai chi incorporates several aspects of movement that may be especially beneficial for older adults with PD, such as movement initiation, moving at different speeds, static and dynamic balance, and flexibility… The improvements presented by patients who have received aquatic ai chi therapy mean patients benefit from a safer gait and greater postural control. These findings are supported by similar results reported in research studies focused on training muscle strength, balance and postural stability in subjects with PD.10
Drumming
Drumming has been a mainstay of healing rituals in cultures worldwide. Modern research shows that synchronized drumming leads to increased activity in the caudate nucleus, an area of the brain that’s dysfunctional in Parkinson’s disease, as well as improved prosocial behavior and decreases in depression, anxiety, and inattention.11
After six weeks of twice-weekly West African drum circle classes, quality of life significantly improved in people with Parkinson’s disease, suggesting drumming may make a worthy addition to standard interventions such as physical therapy.
Of note, study authors reported that the improvements associated with therapeutic drumming waned following completion of study so continued drumming may be necessary to maintain the benefits. “In summary, six weeks of twice weekly West African drum circle classes improved self reported quality of life in participants with PD. This improvement waned within six weeks of completion of classes…suggesting that continued drumming may be necessary to sustain the measured benefits.”
Music in general has been found to achieve improvements in various areas of patients with Parkinson’s. A 2021 systemic review analyzing the beneficial effects of music programs for PD—from group singing (ParkinSong) to piano lessons—found that rhythmic auditory signals engaged a multisensory and motor network, including inducing changes and linking brain regions within this network.
Study authors wrote, “Music has cognitive, psychosocial, behavioral, and motor benefits for people with neurological disorders, such as dementia or Parkinson’s disease… In voice development, a group singing program with deep breathing training and song learning can promote memory, language, speech information processing, executive function, and respiratory muscle strength in older adults, as well as those with PD. Choral singing has also been used in this therapeutic process to help those with PD manage some of the consequences of their condition, including social isolation and low morale. Given the above, music therapy in PD has been shown to have physical, emotional, and social benefits.”12
—
Well Being Journal adapted the above article from the previously published original at greenmedinfo.com titled “7 Evidence-Based Activities for Parkinson’s Disease,” September 15, 2022.
References available at the following website address:
