Dr. Jack Harless
Wellness Center Manager
In a recent study involving Argentine Tango and individuals with Parkinson’s Disease, some interesting conclusions were arrived at. The authors concluded that “the major purpose of this work was to compare a tango dance class, considered a novel movement intervention, with a standard community exercise class. The results illustrate improvements in all measures of falls, gait and balance confidence in those with PD in the tango group as compared with those with PD in the exercise group. Furthermore, the novel aspect of tango and the built-in non-exercise concept of dance made the exercise more pleasurable and as such, promoted adherence to the program.” 1.
I want to highlight a couple of points that have particular importance to The Franciscan Center and our Vital Life program. The researchers noted that when individuals affected by PD were introduced to a novel from of movement/exercise, and that the movement did not feel like exercise to the participants, they continued with the exercise over a longer period of time than the individuals who were doing a “standard” exercise class.
The lesson there for all of us is go out and try something new. Make new friends, learn new movements. Not only is the socialization fun, but there is growing evidence that learning new movements and being exposed to new environments helps the nervous system “re-wire” itself. At the very least, the evidence suggests that all of us, not just those with PD, are more functional and alive. In Vital Life terms, they were expressing more fun and function and less frailty and failure.
Our very reason for being at the
1. Hackney ME, Kantorovich S, Earhart GM. A study on the effects of Argentine tango as a form of partnered dance for those with Parkinson disease and the healthy elderly. Amer J Dance Ther 2007;29 (2):109–27
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