Using multisensory cues, these therapies may be particularly suitable for the treatment of parkinsonian freezing and other gait disorders. In addition to auditory cueing, immersive virtual reality technologies that utilize interactive computer-generated systems through wearable devices are increasingly used for improving brainbody interaction and sensorymotor integration. However, RAS that adapts to patients movements may be more effective than rigid, fixed-tempo RAS used in most studies. Rhythmic auditory stimulation, such as playing marching music and dance therapy, has been shown to be a safe, inexpensive, and an effective method in improving gait in PD patients. Pharmacological and surgical approaches have only limited efficacy in treating these gait disorders. Gait abnormalities, such as shuffling steps, start hesitation, and freezing, are common and often incapacitating symptoms of Parkinsons disease and other parkinsonian disorders.
Several studies have shown that FOG in patients with PD correlates with poor quality of life, disease severity, apathy, and exposure to anticholinergic drugs it may, but not always, improve with DA therapy. Basic parameters of gait and their definitions and units of measurement.Įmergence of gait abnormalities often indicates a poor prognosis for PD patients as they correlate with bradykinesia, rigidity, and cognitive impairment associated with cortical Lewy bodies and leads to more frequent falling, a major cause of death among patients with PD. Gait abnormalities become also more severe in the late-stage PD. These symptoms are often accompanied by gait impairments that are particularly prominent in the postural instability gait difficulty, in contrast to the tremor dominant, subtype of PD. This deficiency results in four cardinal symptoms of PD that can be remembered by the tremor at rest, rigidity, akinesia, and postural instability. The disease is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra associated with neuronal inclusions called Lewy bodies, leading to DA deficiency in the basal ganglia. Parkinsons disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, is a complex neurological disorder that negatively impacts both motor and non-motor functions.
Interactive Metronome’s use in Improving the Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease