. Tango Therapy Around the World
. Tango Therapy Around the World
Tango therapy has become a worldwide phenomena. It has been used for the treatment of everything from depression and alzheimers to Parkinson’ s disease and cancer. Recently, several notable medical research institutes have recognized its efficacy. A few of them are presented here.
According to new research conducted by a multidiciplinary research team at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center., tango therapy is being used to restore balance for cancer patients with neuropathy. the dance has the potential to significantly improve balance and reduce risk of falling among cancer patients experiencing peripheral neuropathy,
The pilot study was funded by Pelotonia, a grassroots cycling event, Pelotoni, in Columbus, Ohio, that has raised more than $ 106 million for cancer research, at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. A Pelotonia fellow and pre-medicine and dance major, Mimi Lamantia and physical rehabilitation faculty member, Lise Worthen-Chaudhari, collaborated on these movement studies at the Wexner Medical Center’ s Neurological Institute,.
The study addressed one of the prevalent side effect of cancer treatment— neuropathy. Up to 70 percent of patients treated with chemotherapy will experience peripheral neuropathy as a side effect of cancer treatment. The condition can cause loss of sensation in the hands, fingers, feet and toes. One in three patients will still experience this problem six months post treatment.
Researchers say long-term neuropathy in the feet and toes can be especially problematic because it affects a person’ s balance and gait. This puts them in an elevated fall risk when they are engaging in daily life activities.
It’ s a big deal because many more people are surviving cancer. Dealing with the issues that impact a person’ s quality of life after cancer is extremely important.... As a dancer, I study the art of movement and as a biomechanist and rehabilitation scientist I study the math and the science of movement. We thought that it would be a powerful combination to put all those together to try to help cancer survivors.
— Lise Worthen-Chaudhari
To evaluate the effect of tango on the biomechanical predictors of fall risk among cancer survivors, They designed a dance intervention course that involved twenty sessions of adapted tango. Patients participated in one hour sessions twice a week for ten weeks. The researchers measured patients’ standing postural sway with a computer-aided force platform at the beginning and at completion of the ten weeks of instruction.
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