If you have Parkinson’s disease, experts say you should take up dancing. here’s why

Although she’s always danced, Barbara Salsberg Matthews found a more important reason to take classes a few years ago.

“I just thought, ‘I better get out and start dancing, because Parkinson’s can’t stop me from dancing,'” said Salsburg Matthews, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2020.

Over the years, as symptoms of muscle weakness and stiffness have crept in her body, the 67-year-old woman says dancing makes her feel like herself again.

She said, “When I get lost in the music, so to speak, I feel free, my range of motion and fluidity come back immediately.”

And growing evidence suggests that dancing may help slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease. It’s because of that research that experts are launching a national online arts center that aims to connect Parkinson’s patients across Canada with a variety of programs like singing and dancing.

Rebecca Barnstaple, assistant professor of theater at the University of Guelph, is leading the launch of the online arts centre.

“If participating in something like dance can help someone feel better, even if they’re living with a neurodegenerative condition, then I hope I’ll be able to promote that,” she said.

His project is part of a mass movement Towards social determinism, which focuses on using social services to improve overall well-being and fill certain gaps within the health care system.

“When someone realizes or is told or finds out they have a movement disorder, they think dance is not for them,” Barnstable said.

“But this is the moment when we must dance.”

Fear of increase in Parkinson’s cases

Right now, more than 110,000 Canadians are living with Parkinson’s disease – according to Parkinson Canada, that number is expected to exceed 150,000 in less than 10 years.

“In a few years from now, (Parkinson’s) will become the most common neurodegenerative disease,” said Dr. Alfonso Fasano, a neurologist at the University Health Network in Toronto.

In Canada, people with Parkinson’s can wait up to two years to see a specialist or receive treatment — rather than spending that time feeling hopeless, Barnstaple wants them to feel empowered.

She has been teaching dance to people with Parkinson’s since 2013 and has seen the benefits first-hand.

“We’ve seen that it can affect people’s balance, their ability to get up from a chair, some really functional activities,” she said.

How does dancing help?

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder This causes loss of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical that helps us move and gives us pleasure, among other functions.

With Parkinson’s, people can experience a variety of symptoms, including body tremors, muscle stiffness and slowness, as well as brain dullness, anxiety and depression.

Exercise has long been prescribed to people with Parkinson’s as a way to cope with some symptoms.

“Any activity is good for the body, especially aerobic exercise,” said Fasano, a Toronto neurologist.

“Some people have said that if exercise were a pill, it would be the most prescribed drug. And so dance makes people take that pill.”

He says people with Parkinson’s who regularly exercise, which increases their heart rate, may see slower progression of their disease.

And dance does exactly that and helps with balance, coordination and flexibility.

But, experts say dancing isn’t the same as your typical workout, which is why it offers more mental benefits.

“Dancing is extremely complex for your body,” said Joseph D’Souza, an associate psychology professor at York University in Toronto, who is not involved in the Guelph project.

“If a doctor says you need to run more or take more steps, those are very simple things that don’t stress cognition.”

recent research D’Souza shows that people with Parkinson’s who took dance classes once a week for six years had improved cognition and stability when walking, compared to people who were not dancing.

“It’s surprising to me because it’s kind of pushing the disease into people’s back pockets,” he said.

“Now the question is, what aspect of the dance is doing this?”

Research points to a variety of factors music Whatsoever way social interaction The mood can be good from class, reduce depression.

“As soon as you get the disease, you should be prescribed exercise, dancing, swimming, whatever you think is fun,” D’Souza said.

But there are still a lot of questions he’s hoping to answer, like how the brain of a person with Parkinson’s specifically reacts or changes because of dance.

‘I’m not watching the world go by’

In recent years, dance classes for people with Parkinson’s have grown in popularity and are taking place across the country.

In Windsor, Ontario, Ken Wickens attended his first event.

The 78-year-old has had Parkinson’s disease for almost 12 years and says he is always looking for experiences that keep him going.

“I’m not sitting back and watching the world go by,” he said. “I’m getting a share of it.”

And it’s that feeling of being part of something and interacting with others that researchers believe plays a bigger role than most people think.

Barnstaple says human connection is medicine and she hopes more people will get a dose of it when her project launches in April.