Parkinson’s treatment: motor-cognitive training from home – GaitBetter
More than 10M people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s Disease. An innovative motor-cognitive training method, using a virtual reality treadmill supplement, may provide a new Parkinson’s treatment. The device may help many rehabilitate walking and reduce the risk of falls, along with improving cognitive function
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurological disease
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurological disease that results from a loss of the ability to produce dopamine, and causes a gradual impairment of body movements.
Contrary to popular belief, Parkinson’s is not just a disease of the elderly. About 10% of patients will be diagnosed before the age of 50.
The disease is manifested in a variety of symptoms, including motor (motor) impairment, which also affects the ability and quality of walking.
Over time, Parkinson’s patients tend to experience instability and fall more frequently than the average person.
The disease is characterized by a variety of other symptoms, including cognitive decline.
About GaitBetter’s system
The GaitBetter system helps patients rehabilitate walking ability and quality, through an innovative and customized training program.
The system is based on technology developed by a multidisciplinary international team of neurologists, researchers, physiotherapists and rehabilitation specialists, led by leading researchers from Ichilov Hospital in Israel.
“Integrated motor-cognitive training has been shown to be extremely effective in rehabilitating walking and preventing falls, “says Hilik Harari, CEO of Gaitbetter . “In the five years that GaitBetter ‘s technology has been in clinical use, thousands of patients have benefited from a significant improvement in walking abilities and a significant reduction in the number of falls.
Get to know the Parkinson’s treatment program
The Parkinson’s treatment program consists of a series of 15 training sessions, that take place two to three times a week.
The workout involves walking the patient on a walking track (treadmill) for about half an hour.
The system tracks the movement of the patient’s legs in real time and reflects this movement in a virtual simulation displayed on a screen opposite.
The simulation mirrors walking challenges from everyday life, such as overcoming walking obstacles (hurdles, puddles, etc.), while cognitive training that combines aspects of real-time decision-making, practices attention distribution in the face of distractions and memory training through a variety of tasks required by the patient.
During the Parkinson’s treatment, the patient is harnessed to a safety harness that ensures a safe training environment without risks.
Training in the system was shown to be effective even after many months of completing the Parkinson’s treatment program.
The largest conducted study in the field of rehabilitation and virtual reality walking
A random comparative study led by renowned researchers in the field of movement and cognition, indicated the effectiveness of the system’s treatment in the system and its results were published in the prestigious magazine The Lancet.
The study, the largest conducted to date in the world in the field of rehabilitation and virtual reality walking, was led by Prof. Anat Mirlman, Prof. Jeff Hausdorf and Prof. Nir Giladi, Director of the Neurology Department at Ichilov.
The study followed 302 adults who had experienced falls in the previous six months; About a third of them were Parkinson’s patients.
Participants were divided into two randomized groups, with one practicing using the GaitBetter system, and the other walking on a track, without the cognitive supplement (the control group).
At the end of the training, the patients were monitored for six months and the number of falls they experienced during this period was recorded.
The results of the study show that among the participants treated using the GaitBetter system, there was a 50% decrease in the number of falls in the six months after the training period, compared to the previous six months, a double improvement compared to that observed in the control group.
However, the most significant improvement was observed among Parkinson’s patients – patients treated with GaitBetter experienced a reduction of up to 65% in the number of falls. These results are unique in their nature, and indicate the outstanding effectiveness of the technology as a method of rehabilitating walking among Parkinson patients ..
Additional studies conducted on the technology have indicated a significant improvement in walking dimensions among patients, including speed, step size, symmetry, dynamic equilibrium, along with improvement in cognitive function indices and even in quality of life indices.
If you, or one of your family members, suffers from Parkinson’s or Parkinsonism, it can be a difficult time for all concerned. Training with the GaitBetter has been shown to help sufferers walk better, reduce falls and get more out of life.