Mumbai: Jaslok hospital to conduct study on Parkinson’s disease

Studies show that meditation restores one’s sense of self-awareness, helps people regulate their emotions and lowers stress and depression. Representation pic

Doctors at Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre are working on a unique study which might help reduce the progression of Parkinson's disease and help the patients live a quality life. They are studying whether meditation along with music and dance therapy can help these patients.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system and parts of the body controlled by nerves. It restricts the movement of the body parts to a certain extent. Tremors are common, but the disorder may also cause stiffness or slowing of movement.

Music is said to have a direct impact in improving motor rhythmicity. Prior studies show that dance employs sensory-motor methods to improve movement and balance of patients. There is evidence that both music and dance uplift the mood and improve quality of life of patients with Parkinson's disease.

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Studies also show that meditation restores one's sense of self-awareness and helps people regulate their thoughts, emotions and helps lower the stress and depression. So doctors have decided to do a controlled pilot study with 32 patients with Parkinson's from mild to moderate severity. Of these, 16 patients will be taken into intervention and reference groups. The patients will be enrolled for three weekly sessions of dance/music and meditation for 6 months, and one session will take place in person on a weekly basis. The patients will choose a modality from dance and music, while all the patients will take part in 15 minutes sessions of mindfulness meditation for 6 days every week.

The results of this study will have a significant impact on how doctors treat this disease and how caregivers manage patients. If the results of this pilot study are positive, a larger study will be conducted to investigate the effectiveness of dance, music, and mediation therapy on Parkinson's patients.

Prof. Dr Paresh Doshi, director of Neurosurgery Department, Jaslok Hospital, said, "It is accepted that patients' quality of life, mood, cognition and behaviour are changed when exposed to music and dance.

A thorough study examining the positive effects of dance/music and meditation on the quality of life of PD patients, or their care givers has not yet been conducted. Since there is a lack of research on the impact of dance, music, and meditation in an Indian context, Jalsok Hospital has proposed to conduct this study."