Beating Parkinson’s Disease With Boxing

Boxing is gaining popularity, and for good reason. When someone thinks of boxing, they don't necessarily associate it with being good for their brain. A recent study conducted by Edith Cowan University (ECU) and The Perron Institute along with boxer Rai Fazio has shown the sport — without an opponent — could be a good way for people suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) to improve their quality of life (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
FIGHT-PD: A feasibility study of periodised boxing training for Parkinson disease

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Boxing Against Parkinson’s Disease

In collaboration with Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and the University of Western Australia, ECU researchers had 10 participants with early-stage Parkinson’s Disease perform three one-hour boxing sessions per week, over 15 weeks.

The group fought a Fightmaster boxing unit, which is a commercially available gadget with 11 cushioned punching targets attached to a platform, rather than an opponent.

The program was divided into three sections: a boxing introduction, a high-intensity component, and a cognitively challenging segment.

Participants of the study were expected to complete two-to-three-minute "rounds" of striking the various pads in different sequences, followed by no more than two minutes of rest.

Dr. Travis Cruickshank from ECU’s Centre for Precision Health said that boxing has gained popularity among those living with PD, even though there is little evidence supporting its use.

“So, what we did was look really robustly at how feasible a boxing program is for people with PD, which hadn’t been done in the past,” he said.

“We used heart rate monitors throughout the intervention so we could see the cardiovascular load on our participants, we used scales that measured their perceived levels of exertion from both a physical and cognitive standpoint.”

“We have a lot of the metrics needed to say it’s safe, well tolerated and that people enjoyed it.”

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Reap the Benefits of Boxing for Parkinson's Disease

Post the 15-week program, nine out of 10 participants had an improved score on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, which is a tool used to measure the progression and severity of PD. The group also reported a reduction in fatigue and improvements in sleep.

Dr. Cruickshank said that group boxing has the benefit of combining many aspects of therapy, such as exercise, cognitive stimulation and socialization into a single exercise.

“In the past, I might have been working with people with Parkinson’s and we’d have exercises in a gym, then a separate computerized cognitive training program, and another event for the social aspect,” he said.

“With boxing, we can combine all of those and deliver it really quickly, which makes it all more enjoyable and people will stick with it.”

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Boxing Could be a Feasible Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease

Dr. Cruickshank said a key aspect of the study was establishing boxing as a feasible option to be prescribed to people living with early-stage PD. Despite the high intensity of many of the workouts, participants reported no increase in muscle soreness from the program, nor major injuries, which may be expected for people with PD.

Additionally, this means that every individual completed the 15-week program with almost 97% of training sessions completed.

“In fact, after we finished the study, everyone chose to buy a Fightmaster and have it installed in their home,” Dr. Cruickshank said.

“So, in the future programs such as this could be run in people’s homes or in clinics, it could be self-administered, supervised in a clinic or done remotely via telehealth so people in regional areas can still be included.”

“We know the camaraderie and positive relationships formed between the members in the study also served as a motivator.”

“These social benefits cannot be understated, particularly given the link between socialization and emotional wellbeing.”

Taking the Fight Further

Dr. Cruickshank said that the next step was to trial boxing’s therapeutic effectiveness in a larger group of people living with various stages of PD.

He said he believed it could be effective for other neurological conditions such as Huntington's Disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke and traumatic brain injury and more.

“Beyond these neurological conditions, people with cancer may also see benefits, particularly to bone mineral content and muscle mass which is impacted by treatments,” he said.

“The ability to adapt the training to someone’s individual state is really important.”

Dr. Cruickshank said that he hoped boxing programs could soon be rolled out to treat PD in the not-too-distant future.

“We know now it’s safe, well-tolerated and people enjoy it,” he said.

“Once we’ve established the therapeutic effectiveness with larger trials — then it will be ready to be implemented in the community.”

Reference:

1. FIGHT-PD: A feasibility study of periodised boxing training for Parkinson disease - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37071916/)

Source-Medindia