Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease affecting about 1.5 million Americans. Tremor, balance problems, and abnormal slowness of movement are typical symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Can regular yoga practice help to improve motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease? In collaboration with researchers in the School of Nursing and the Department of Neurology we examined if patients with Parkinson’s disease may benefit from participating in a regular routine of Yoga. In this clinically supervised research study funded through an internal University of Minnesota grant (P.I. Dr. Corjena Cheung), 20 patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease attended supervised Yoga sessions for 12 weeks. Signs of oxidative stress, markers of social well-being, joint flexibility, balance, and gait performance were monitored to understand the effects of Yoga. The HSC lab performed the relevant biomechanical assessment of the joint range of motion and gait and balance. Our research on the movement analysis showed that Yoga improved balance function, but not necessarily the range of motion improves in our sample of people with Parkinson’s disease.
Team Members: Dr. Naveen Elangovan served as the lead investigator to evaluate the biomechanical markers. Dr. Corjena Cheung was the PI for the project. She is now at Hong Kong Adventist College, Hong Kong. Other team members included Dr. Jürgen Konczak, Dr. Paul Tuite (Neurology), and Dr. Jean Wyman (Nursing).
Related Publications:
Elangovan N., Cheung C., Mahnan A., Wyman J.F., TuiteP.J., & Konczak J. (2020). Hatha yoga training improves standing balance but not gait in Parkinson's disease. Sports Medicine and Health Science 2 (2), 80-88
Cheung C, Bhimani R, Wyman JF, Konczak J, Zhang L, Mishra U, Terluk M, Kartha RV, Tuite P. (2018). Effects of yoga on oxidative stress, motor function, and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2018 Oct 23;4:162. doi: 10.1186/s40814-018-0355-8. eCollection 2018.