[Chicory]

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/pati...nsons-10264680

I thought this was a great story on Parkinson's on ABC news. I see it was mentioned in another thread, but here is a link so everyone can find it easily.

[paula_w]

thanks, that is excellent and I saw at least one person i had met at the clri research institute. going to look for more.

The report is accurate, but scenes just blink by. Here's a related one.

http://abcnews.go.com/gma/oncall/vid...aylist=1363742
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[MikeTTF]

This kind of misinformation does no one any good. It's incomplete, not even mentioning the importance of a tandem bike.

The Park patient on the back benefits only because the non-pwp in front is pushing the pedals much faster than the pwp would on his own.

These CURE Cure tv news snippet's are heartless and confusing

MikeTTF

Originally Posted by Chicory

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/pati...nsons-10264680

I thought this was a great story on Parkinson's on ABC news. I see it was mentioned in another thread, but here is a link so everyone can find it easily.

[howarddavis3]

I agree that the video is confusing and leaves out some important data. For instance, how long and how fast a PD patient has to peddle to see a benefit. I think it has been known for a long time that exercise is beneficial to PD patients. I know that playing soccer helps me, but it doesn't stop my tremors completely. Does the steady rhythm of the pedaling of a bike have something to do with the seemingly improvement experienced by PD patients? What experiments were done and what were the results? It seems to me that this is at least an indication that there is some very important things to be learned about the relationship between the brain and the rest of the body. I am going to study this more deeply.

best wishes, Howard Davis

[paula_w]

Originally Posted by howarddavis3

I agree that the video is confusing and leaves out some important data. For instance, how long and how fast a PD patient has to peddle to see a benefit. I think it has been known for a long time that exercise is beneficial to PD patients. I know that playing soccer helps me, but it doesn't stop my tremors completely. Does the steady rhythm of the pedaling of a bike have something to do with the seemingly improvement experienced by PD patients? What experiments were done and what were the results? It seems to me that this is at least an indication that there is some very important things to be learned about the relationship between the brain and the rest of the body. I am going to study this more deeply.

best wishes, Howard Davis

I agree that there is nothing new here. I have to remember that this is for a lay audience and that not everyone [even with pd] has seen much about it.

And it's not a breakthrough for most pwp.

But having it 20+ yrs and being online for more than a decade,I've seen many examples of what i think is rhythm induced movement. For awhile i could walk backwards but festinated trying to walk forward. i knew a guy who ran marathons but couldn't walk..he could run with no problem. I can dance and do the hula hoop when music is blaring. And then stutterers don't stutter when they sing.

i've always felt like our brain has a rhythm to it that is disrupted.

[Chicory]

Of course the video leaves out information. It was a 30 min. news program- not a 30 min. program on PD. I was very happy to see this news clip and see the man who could barely walk get out of his wheel chair and ride a bike.

Last December I had to get a wheel chair when I injured my good foot from doing too much while moving and unpacking. I still have the wheel chair and I am glad to have it at times. When I have had a busy day and come home tired, I wheel around my kitchen when I get dinner. When I babysit my grandson and he wants to be picked up, I can put him in my lap and wheel around- he is too heavy for me to carry.

I have been worried that if my insurance company finds out I bike ride and tap dance, they will say I must not need a wheel chair. Now if that should happen, I can point to this news story and show that people with Parkinson's can bike ride and dance and still have need of a wheel chair. Sometimes I come home from a bike ride to see the sunrise and then use the wheel chair to get some more breakfast or I come home from my dance class and then use the wheel chair to get lunch. And yes, I think bike riding is beneficial even if it is not a tandem bike and yes dancing is beneficial. Both help me stay active despite PD. Before I had the wheel chair, I would come home from a bike ride and lay on the couch. Now I can sit down and keep doing things.

[Nan Cyclist]

It seems to me that the goal of such news snippets is to heighten awareness and lead those who care about the story to do some research on their own if they choose. Each time such a story comes on TV or in the papers, I have all sorts of requests and responses to it. I'm sure others do too. I think that's good. Who knows how many pwps are encouraged to try exercise, biking, dancing or whatever, after seeing such a clip?

Mike, just to clarify a few things about the forced pace cycling. 1. It does not need to be done on a tandem. Jay Alberts is now using stationary bikes with motors in lieu of tandems. They are still working out some bugs according to the manufacturer, but are getting closer to replicating the tandem experience on solo bikes. However, in the program we're starting in Seattle, we are using tandems. 2. You do not have to be on a stationary bike at all. I force myself to ride at 80-90 rpm, although prior to PD my usual pace was in the 50-60 range. Sometimes I'm inside on a bike trainer and, weather permitting, I'm outside, but always for at least 5 days/week and with a minimum of an hour at 80-90 rpm. 3. In the test setting, the people have 10 min of warmup, 40 min at the forced pace, and 10 min of cool down. This is done 3/week for 8 weeks.

I think a valid question, and one we're grappling with as we set up a program in Seattle, is "What about after the trial period? Does everyone get a bike?" Can the patients return to the test site and use the bikes off hours? We're working on that one. We're also modestly hopeful that a mechanism can/will be developed that can be added to a normal road bike to make it an electric bike that can be modulated to fit the needs of pwp. The modulating part is the tough one. Our goal is to have such a thing available for $200-$300. Don't hold your breath. It's a ways off!

[amyc628]

Thank you for all this information. I'd be very interested in trying the Theracycle but I'm sure the cost to buy one would be VERY prohibitive.

Does anyone out there know of any facilities in Massachusetts or Rhode Island that has a Theracycle, like a gym or a PT office? I've searched online with not much luck.

Thanks!

[Nan Cyclist]

You could contact Peter Blumenthal, owner of Theracycle <peter@exercycle.com> and he would surely know the answer. They are hq in Boston i believe. He's eager to make this successful for PD patients.

[amyc628]

I'll do that - thanks!