THE current therapy for those suffering from the cruel and crippling Parkinson’s disease has been branded “ineffective” by health experts.
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| Current Parkinson's therapy has been branded ineffective |
Physiotherapy and occupational therapy - used to treat Parkinson’s sufferers - don't produce improvements in quality of life for patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s, shocking research has revealed.
The findings of the from the Birmingham University study have prompted researchers to suggest there’s a desperate need for the reallocation of resources towards more effective treatment that will be of greater benefit to patients.
The trial discovered combined physio and occupational therapies demonstrate shortcomings and don’t have a positive impact on ‘activities of daily living’ in the immediate to medium term - leaving simple tasks, such as putting on clothes or brushing teeth hugely difficult or even impossible.
Occupational therapy is intended to help people of all ages with Parkinson's maintain their independence for longer and carry on doing the activities. This is done by providing advice on managing everyday tasks, work skills and hobbies, according to charity Parkinson’s UK.
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| Physiotherapy is one tool which aims to help mobility of those with Parkinson's |
They can also recommend ways to make homes and workplaces safer and easier to cope with.
The aim of physiotherapy is to use exercise and therapy to help keep people mobile when they are affected by the disease, such as improving muscle strength and flexibility, maintaining fitness, improving balance and helping pain relief.
Current national guidelines state that patients should have access to both types of therapy, although there is a geographical inconsistency of care available.
The team, who have previously published large scale trials on the efficacy of medical and surgical therapies for Parkinson's disease, are now looking to investigate the speech and language therapies available.
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| Occupational therapy is also used to try help sufferers adapt to living and maintain independence |
Professor Carl Clarke, of Birmingham University, said: "This shows that there is an urgent requirement to review current guidelines for patients with Parkinson's disease.
"The resource that is committed towards these therapies, that do not appear to be effective, could be better used in patients with more severe problems with their Parkinson's disease.
"That said, it is likely that increasing physical activity is beneficial for patients with earlier Parkinson's, whether that be through dance classes or by using some of the emerging, interactive technologies that are being tested.
"The big challenge is to embed that behaviour long term, and to encourage more exercise over a long period of time."
A total of 762 patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's were recruited from 37 centres across the UK, making it the largest clinical trial of rehab in Parkinson's disease, and follow ups were measured for 15 months.
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| New reforms need to be put in place, say researchers |
Prof Clarke, who also holds a position at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, added: "It is difficult to advocate the removal of something from guidelines when it was assumed to be beneficial.
"Though these therapies can provide marginal improvements to motor function, perhaps an extra centimetre in your stride, they don't lead to benefits in the quality of day to day life."
The degenerative disorder of the central nervous system affects around seven million people worldwide and four per cent of those aged of 80.
The results were published in the journal JAMA Neurology.
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