Scientists want to study whether this local drum class can help Parkinson’s disease patients

euronews (in English)

Researchers at Cardiff University are hoping to launch a study to discover if there is clinical evidence that drumming classes are improving the lives of Parkinson’s disease patients.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:15 I suddenly thought, samba, hmm.

00:20 Because I know when you hear a samba band in the street,

00:22 you can't help but go into it.

00:24 And that's a big issue for people with Parkinson's.

00:28 They sort of lose that sense of rhythm.

00:30 They lose the rhythm of walking.

00:32 Some people have this freezing of gait thing

00:34 where they just suddenly can't go anywhere,

00:37 especially if you're in a doorway or something.

00:38 And I just thought that the samba rhythms would help them.

00:41 And I put it out to my Twitter network, which isn't huge,

00:46 but it is international.

00:47 And they all said, yes, that sounds really good idea.

00:50 Give it a go.

00:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:55 Before samba, I was struggling to get out of the chair.

00:59 So at least I am a bit more mobile now, not quite so stiff,

01:05 which is part and parcel of Parkinson's,

01:07 the stiffness in the joints.

01:09 I tend to still be leaning over to one side,

01:12 so I've got to try and prop myself up.

01:16 But I think without samba, I think I would be struggling.

01:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:32 We do look at things called biomarkers,

01:35 which are biological changes that

01:38 occur as part of the disease.

01:39 And they're often a really good marker of how

01:41 the disease is progressing.

01:43 However, we don't have really good biomarkers

01:46 for Parkinson's yet.

01:47 And so all clinical trials are based

01:49 on a rating of clinical symptoms.

01:51 And that will include, as I said, quality of life, motor,

01:53 and cognitive symptoms.

01:55 If we can do that, and people with Parkinson's

01:58 know that this is actually better for them,

02:01 good for them in lots of different ways,

02:02 including actually addressing some of their symptoms,

02:06 then there's nothing to stop them getting out and doing it

02:09 themselves.

02:10 You wait ages for somebody to come along and wave a magic wand.

02:13 But if there's something you can do yourself,

02:14 then that's really--

02:16 to me, that's really important.

02:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:20 [MUSIC ENDS]

02:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]

02:27 (upbeat music)

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