How 'exergaming' Can Help People With Parkinson's

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How 'exergaming' can help people with Parkinson's

ISLAMABAD (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd September, 2019) Exercise is important for helping people with Parkinson's disease achieve better balance and mobility, but it can be hard to keep it up.

A Dutch study has yielded positive results with a novel home exercise computer gaming program.The Parkinson's Outcomes Project, which is a 10 year study of 12,000 people in five countries, found that starting exercise as early as possible following diagnosis and doing at least 2.5 hours per week can slow the condition's progress."We conducted the study for several reasons," Nicolien van der Kolk a Ph.D student at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands explained to Medical news Today."Previous exercise research in people showed the beneficial effect of targeted training on improving skills, for example, walking training improved walking speed, however, it was unknown whether it could also improve symptoms that were not directly trained."Animal research suggested an important role for aerobic exercise in influencing [Parkinson's].

We, therefore, wanted to see what the effect of aerobic exercise was on [Parkinson's] symptoms that were not directly trained with the exercise.

"The bike group, who had to cycle for 30-45 minutes three times per week for 6 months, received exercise bikes with screens and games designed to rouse their enthusiasm and motivate them to improve.'Exergame' matches medication's benefitsThe study which the Department of Neurology at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour at Radboud University Medical Center ran showed that those with bikes had significantly improved their motor ability compared with those who simply stretched.In fact, the participants with bikes scored 4.2 points lower, on average, on the MDS-UPDRS score.

This is a unified rating scale that measures the course of the condition.The cyclists also showed better cardiovascular fitness:"In addition, it shows that aerobic exercise has effects on [Parkinson's] motor signs that are similar to levodopa [a drug that aids muscle control], however with the main difference that exercise stabilizes and levodopa improves signs."