Parkinson's Patients Regain Some Mobility With New Therapy
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Parkinson's disease robs people of their mobility.
Now, a new therapy offered at a local hospital is helping them get some of that mobility back.
Al Akers had all the typical symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
"Three, four years ago, I had a slight tremor in my right hand, which has increased considerably. And I found myself tripping over things," Akers said.
Through a friend, he found about a new kind of therapy at a local hospital called LSVT Big, and its allied program, LSVT Loud.
"LSVT Big really focuses on bigger movement. Loud focuses more on the speech portion," Michael Fletcher, of Canonsburg Hospital, said.
The insurance-covered program started in March, and the LSVT-certified therapists have treated six patients so far with this specialized physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
With Parkinson's disease, because of a loss of a chemical brain signal called dopamine, movements get slower and smaller. This type of exaggerated therapy is thought to reset a patient's shrinking movements, coordination, and speech in a bigger way.
"It doesn't make the Parkinson's go away. You still need your medication," Dr. Bruce Cotugno said.
Because the four-week program requires daily 45-minute sessions, Dr. Cotugno refers motivated patients with mild to moderate disease -- patients who can fully participate in the therapy. Additional rounds are an option as the disease worsens.
"Patients come back and they tell me they've improved, their walking is better, their mobility, their activity," Dr. Cotugno said.
Even after the sessions with the therapist end, the exercises continue at home.
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