LIFESTYLE NEWS - Exercise is one of the ways to improve your physical well-being and it aids in great measure to get rid of ailments, aches and pains. Follow the exercise programme provided by the biokineticists at Anine van der Westhuizen Biokineticist in George and feel the difference. This week biokineticist Megan van Huyssteen discusses the benefits dancing could have for people with Parkinson's disease.

People with Parkinson's disease (PD) often experience difficulties with gait and balance, which contributes to an increased incidence of falls. Exercise is one of the approaches to help PD patients manage. 

Evidence even suggests that people who exercise regularly are less likely to develop PD.

"Parkinsonian gait" is one of the effects PD has on sufferers: their gait changes to a slow walk with short, shuffling steps and a flexed posture. Aspects of walking that are particularly challenging for PD sufferers include dual tasking, turning and walking backward. In fact, most falls occur when walking backward. Falls are a major concern for PD sufferers, as they are 3,2 times more likely to sustain a hip fracture than those without PD. Lack of mobility in patients can also contribute to withdrawal from activities, social isolation, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, and low self esteem. Psychological adjustment to PD, depression, and cognition further impacts their quality of life.

Exercise and dance
Four key areas of exercise have been identified that could help address balance problems in PD patients, and recent studies have produced evidence that the age-old favourite activity, dancing, offers all of these:

• Cueing strategies to improve gait: Dance is an activity performed to music, which may serve as an external cue to facilitate movement.
• Cognitive movement strategies to improve transfers: Dance involves the teaching of specific movement strategies. One example is the Argentine tango, where participants are taught a very specific strategy for walking backward, which addresses this particular problem area for PD patients.
• Exercises to improve balance: Throughout dancing, particularly with a partner, one must dynamically control your balance and respond to perturbations within the environment (e.g. being bumped by another couple). Dance also could enhance strength and/or flexibility.
• Training of joint mobility and muscle power: Evidence suggests that aerobic training may result in improved quality of life, reduced disease severity and improved aerobic capacity. Dancing, if done with sufficient intensity, can result in improved cardiovascular functioning, therefore dancing can be an excellent form of aerobic exercise.

Despite the known benefits of exercise for the general population, more than 50% of the general population does not get the recommended daily level of physical activity. This is likely even greater in people with PD, as their daily activity levels may be much lower than those without PD. 

As such, exercise that incorporates the key elements and is at the same time enjoyable and engaging, can be a great motivator to regularly perform the activity. Again, dance may be highly suitable for individuals with PD.

Furthermore, dancing is usually done in a social setting, which may provide motivation to exercise while also addressing the psychological aspects of the disease.

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