INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Parkinson’s patients have been telling trainers at Rock Steady Boxing for years that the program helps counter the symptoms of their disease.
Now, Stephanie Combs-Miller has the scientific proof.Combs-Miller, an associate professor and director of research at the University of Indianapolis Krannert School of Physical Therapy, has been studying the effects of the gym’s noncontact boxing program on people with Parkinson’s for eight years.
Her finding: Those who participated in the noncontact boxing program showed more improvement in their balance, flexibility and overall enjoyment of life than those who participated in other forms of community exercise such as yoga or Tai Chi.
Specifically, over a two-year period, Combs-Miller kept track of 88 Central Indiana Parkinson’s patients who regularly exercise - a common prescription for Parkinson’s patients. About half of them were Rock Steady Boxers.
“People boxing with Rock Steady were maintaining a better ability to walk,” Combs-Miller said. “They were better able to balance and had a better perception of quality of life which, to me, is amazing.”
She said that when she started learning about Parkinson’s, doctors didn’t think patients could actually get better.
“It was really encouraging to see people continually improving,” she said. She has done at least five studies on Rock Steady and has a couple in the works, including one comparing boxers with people not exercising, on and off medications.
Rock Steady Boxing was founded in 2006 by former Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman after he discovered his boxing lessons were helping him manage his own Parkinson’s symptoms. Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder that often causes tremors, slow movement, stiffness and impaired balance.
Parkinson’s disease is caused by an unexplained decrease in production of dopamine, the brain chemical that controls movement. It affects about a million adults in the U.S. - each person differently. It is a chronic condition, worsening over time, with no cure.
Combs-Miller said she can’t conclusively say why boxing has such a positive effect, but she has a theory. Boxing, more so than many other exercise forms, engages the whole body. Tai Chi, yoga and dancing also are good for Parkinson’s patients, but Combs-Miller thinks the Rock Steady Boxing training, modeled closely on training for professional boxers, is the best because it works on endurance, strength and flexibility.
Classes run for an hour and a half, usually twice a week. The boxers rotate between cardio drills in the ring and drills with heavy bags and speed bags. The trainers change the drills each week and work with each participant with focus mitts throughout the class. It’s a noncontact program, so the boxers never spar with each other.
Boxing, Combs-Miller said, is “not just one form of exercise; it’s so many different types of exercise. I think that’s what makes it different than more traditional forms of exercise.”
Joyce Johnson, Rock Steady’s executive director, said she thinks the research will change the way the medical community thinks about exercise for people with Parkinson’s. Even now, over the nine years Rock Steady Boxing has been around, neurologists and movement behavior specialists are seeing the changes and recommending the program.
“Initially, everyone was skeptical. They thought it was an OK thing to do, or more than likely, the neurologist would say, ‘well, it won’t hurt you,’” Johnson said. “But now, in recent years, we have neurologists who actually write on the prescription pad ‘Rock Steady Boxing’ and send people to us on the day of diagnosis.”
Rock Steady began significantly expanding its reach in 2012 with a 2-1/2-day training program for boxing trainers in other cities. It now has 47 affiliates in 11 states and three international locations in Italy, Australia and Canada.
Rock Steady offers four levels of classes for people at different stages of the disease, from P1, for people who have just been diagnosed to P4, in which many of the boxers sit in wheelchairs or use walkers.
Karen Sherman, 68, is in the P2 class that works out on Tuesday mornings. She’s always been active, but Rock Steady helps her maintain her balance and has improved her life in little ways, such as increasing the size of her writing and relieving some of the stiffness in her body.
“When you have Parkinson’s, you slow down on everything, so it helps me speed up on some things,” she said. “You know, be more normal.”
Because people with Parkinson’s often have the disease for a while before they are diagnosed, they have gradually slowed down over the course of several years without necessarily noticing. Sherman said the boxing helps patients regain some of the mobility that they might not have realized they had lost.
Another thing Combs-Miller and Johnson have noticed is that the people in Rock Steady Boxing programs have a great sense of camaraderie. They become friends with other boxers in their classes, Combs-Miler said, and feel supported and encouraged by the trainers.
“That’s one of the nice things about coming here,” Sherman said. “You can let it shake.”
Source: The Indianapolis Star, http://indy.st/1euBhyL
http://health.einnews.com/article/279053396/deninzaVT20NdogM
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