Could dance help to treat Parkinson’s disease?

Dance training with music could help slow the progression of mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease, researchers at York University in Canada have found.

As part of the study, the researchers followed 16 participants with Parkinson’s disease who attended weekly dance classes between 2014 and 2017. The research team compared them to 16 people with Parkinson’s who did not take part in the classes.

The research team found that the motor and non-motor symptoms of those who took part in the dance classes improved or did not progress over time – while those who did not participate showed a continual decline.

“Dance is so complex,” said study author, PhD candidate Karolina Bearss. “It’s a multi-sensory type of environment. It incorporates and stimulates your auditory, tactile, visual and kinaesthetic senses and adds an interactive social aspect. Regular exercise does not offer these aspects. There’s so much more to dance.”

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