Elizabeth Stegemoller is a board-certified music therapist who says singing and listening to music can help alleviate symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s disease affects about one million people in the United States, and while there are commonalities, no two people will experience it in the same way.
Parkinson’s typically is categorized by tremors, though rigidity of the limbs, slowness of movement, postural instability or impaired coordination also are involved in the list of symptoms. Such a disease can foster strong feelings of depression and even isolation, which is why Cynthia Pederson believes the PD Awareness Group is so important.
Pederson’s husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2011, and she attended the first PD Awareness Group’s meeting two years ago, eventually becoming its secretary as well as an event organizer of sorts.
“I think what happens with … a lot of particularly chronic and debilitating diseases is that your social life gets restricted either because you’re embarrassed by symptoms or because everything’s harder to do, so this is one way to get together with people who understand,” Pederson says.
The group, which meets once a month, regularly brings in professors and speakers who can give more insight into the disease, though sessions where participants sit down, talk and share resources also are common.
Pederson hopes the group can bring attention to what those with PD struggle with on a daily basis.
“People just think it’s the tremor because that’s what they see,” she says. “It’s so much more than that with Parkinson’s disease. The tremor is probably the least of it. It’s important to understand the journey of Parkinson’s, even though it’s a very individual disease. With having these speakers, you never really know when they’re going to say something that really matters to how you look at life and how you take this journey that you don’t want to take.”
Thursday, the group learned more about music’s effect on PD from Dr. Elizabeth Stegemoller, an assistant professor in kinesiology at Iowa State University and a board-certified music therapist with a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Singing, in particular, is one of Stegemoller’s specialties, as well as a significant area in her research.
“We know that it can improve their breathing, voice and their swallow, which is really important, because complications from swallow are one of the leading causes of death in Parkinson’s disease,” Stegemoller says. “After one session of singing … we found that it also helps their other motor symptoms like tremor and walking to get better.”
She says stress also is reduced and using preferred music increases dopamine production in the brain, which is one of the neurotransmitters that is reduced in people with Parkinson’s disease.
In years past, some of her research focused on movement in association with music and how latter affects the former. Topics like this help to benefit her listeners who may be struggling with Parkinson’s or know someone who has been diagnosed.
“It’s mainly about how they can use music in their everyday life, why it’s good for you, and this is how you can use it,” Stegemoller says. “And I always put in the research that supports it. We sing, we do some vocal and physical exercises as well.”
The PD Awareness Group meets at 5:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the Joyce Raye Patterson Center.
Daniel Cobb can be reached at daniel.cobb@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowCobb.
http://www.newspressnow.com/life/group-hopes-to-bring-attention-to-parkinson-s/article_d0662250-541e-5e28-ad5c-0f5cd3130cb6.html
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