DB NEWS • May 13, 2021
The music and movement program at Louisiana Tech University is offering dance classes to people battling Parkinson’s disease.
Donna Hood, the director of Louisiana Tech’s Parkinson Resource Center, said research shows a combination of dance, music and social interaction help slow the progression of the disease. "It involves the physical activity; it involves social interaction; and it involves the mental stimulation. So, that combination ... has really been shown to slow progression and even improve mobility, coordination, balance—things that folks with Parkinson’s disease struggle with,” Hood said to KNOE News.
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James Sanders attends the classes weekly. "Parkinson’s knocks you down in the ring. Then, you ... realize they don’t [have] a cure for this disease. How do I fight back?" he said to KNOE News. "[These classes] give you a [way] to fight back and make it through life."
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Larry Neal, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2016, and who also attends the weekly dance classes, said that the most beneficial part of the program is the "camaraderie that comes from [us] being together.”
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