This disease affects the nervous system, in adulthood. Walking disturbances negatively affect the quality of life of patients with Parkinson’s disease.
HUILA DAILY, HEALTH
Parkinson’s is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease characterized by decline in motor function, particularly in relation to gait disturbances. These gait disorders manifest as decreased step length, reduced arm swing, slowness of movement, stiffness, and postural instability, which are common among Parkinson’s patients.
Walking disturbances negatively affect the quality of life of patients with Parkinson’s disease, the disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Although there are various pharmacological, surgical and rehabilitation treatments, their effectiveness is limited.
For the same reason, a team of researchers from Japan has managed to successfully address this limitation. Using a neuromodulation approach incorporating closed-loop transcranial electrical stimulation combined with gait, they demonstrated significant gait improvements in patients with various neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s.
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While non-pharmacological approaches, such as transcranial direct current stimulation, show promise for improving motor function, recent research focuses on combined closed-loop gait stimulation, which synchronizes brain stimulation with gait rhythm. of the individual.
This study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, proposes a novel intervention to improve gait, thus creating new hope for Parkinson’s patients.
“We recently developed a novel neuromodulation approach using closed-loop transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) combined with gait and demonstrated promising gait improvements in post-stroke patients. Here we tested the efficacy of this intervention in patients with Parkinsonian gait disorders,” explained lead author Ippei Nojima, from Shinshu University and Nagoya City University, Japan.
To do this, the clinical investigators recruited 23 patients with Parkinson’s or Parkinson’s syndrome. All study participants were randomly assigned to receive either the active treatment or a “sham” treatment that mimics the active treatment but offers no therapeutic benefit.
During the course of the test, an electrode carrying a low current (up to 2 mA) was placed externally on the occipital region of the head. A reference electrode was then placed in the neck region to establish a stable electrical reference point and complete the electrical circuit. Treatment included performing tES in the cerebellum non-invasively. The electrotherapy specifically targeted the side of the brain that was showing severe impact.
Parkinson’s occurs primarily in older adults.
“Gait disturbances reduce activities of daily living in patients with Parkinson’s and related disorders. However, the efficacy of pharmacological, surgical and rehabilitation treatments is limited. Our novel intervention could improve physical function not only in patients with Parkinson’s, but also in those with other disabilities,” said Yoshino Ueki, another of the people responsible for the research.
The therapy showed encouraging results after only ten repetitions. So also the treatment group a significant improvement in gait parameters, such as speed, gait symmetry and stride length.
Interestingly, no patient dropped out during the study. Furthermore, patients in both groups (treatment and sham) showed good and comparable compliance. Side effects such as skin irritation, dizziness, or strange sensations/perceptions were also not observed in any of the volunteer patients.