Modern Tango World N° 5 (Mexico) | Page 33

So many patients tell us that it is difficult to stay committed to physical therapy because it is hard and feels like work. We’ve show that Argentine Tango has measurable effects on balance — but our patients report really enjoying dance as therapy. It is a fun, social way to do the necessary work and our initial data shows it has some positive impact for restoring balance. — Mimi Lamantia The study looked at changes in patients’ motor abilities following a twelve week tango course. It is the first study to assess the effect that tango has on non-motor symptoms. The initial data from the first patients who participated in this study will be presented in November at American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. This presentation will provide evidence regarding whether cancer survivors find a tango-based intervention to be feasible for balance improvement. We show that after just five weeks of Argentine tango, medial and lateral sway decreased by 56 percent indicating that this is a promising balance intervention for cancer survivors experiencing impaired balance post treatment. ... I have personally witnessed the immeasurable joy, confidence and enhanced quality of movement in each tango dancer over the course of ten weeks. ... It is a fun, social way to do the necessary work and our initial data shows it has some positive impact for restoring balance, ... We show that after just five weeks of Argentine tango, medial and lateral sway decreased by 56 per cent indicating that this is a promising balance intervention for cancer survivors experiencing impaired balance post treatment Tango may be particularly helpful for improving balance and functional mobility in patients with Parkinsons. Tango involves rhythmic walking forward and backward. This may be particularly helpful for patients with walking difficulties, especially for those susceptible to freezing of gait and backward falls. In addition, tango requires working memory, control of attention, and multitasking to incorporate newly learned with previously learned dance movements. always staying in rhythm with the music, and maneuver around others on the dance floor. — Mimi Lamantia The study looked at whether a social and physical activity linked to tango music could have possible Believe it or not, recent research shows that learning therapeutic value for Parkinsons’ patients who charthe tango can help people with Parkinson’s Disease acteristically suffer from motor dysfunctions, such move more freely in their daily lives! In Montreal, a as tremor, rigidity, gait dysfunction, as well as from new study has shown that tango dancing could ben- non-motor symptoms, such as depression, fatigue efit Parkinson’s disease patients Dancing the tango and cognitive degeneration. Forty men and women appears to have benefits for people at certain stages with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease participated in in the development of Parkinson’s disease, according the study.The study involved studio classes with two to findings in a new study by researchers at the Mon- professional dance instructors. Patients came from treal Neurological Institute, the Neuro Hospital the Movement Disorders Clinics of the McGill of McGill University and the Research Institute University Health Centre. of the McGill University Health Centre. — 31 — To Subscribe, Click here