Article

Rehabilitation treatments have acute beneficial effects in
Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, but whether the effects persist over time is
unclear. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether an intensive rehabilitation treatment (IRT)
is effective in improving motor performance compared with a control group in a
12-month follow-up, to investigate whether a second cycle administered after 1
year has the same efficacy as the first treatment, and to determine whether IRT
reduces the need for increasing levodopa dosage.
METHODS: A total of 50 PD
patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups; 25 participants had 4 weeks of
inpatient physical therapy that included treadmill and stabilometric platform
training. At discharge, these patients were invited to continue doing the learned
exercises. After 12 months, the same treatment was repeated. The control group of
25 patients received only pharmacological treatment and was invited to practice
generic physical exercise at home. The rating scales used for the clinical
evaluation were the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Sections II and III
(UPDRS II and III) and total (UPDRS tot). RESULTS: The authors found that the
beneficial effects of IRT persisted over time. A second rehabilitation cycle
administered after 1 year was as effective as the first treatment. At the end of
the study, daily medication dosage was reduced in treated patients, whereas it
was significantly increased in control patients. CONCLUSION: These findings
suggest that the natural worsening of symptoms associated with PD can be
effectively counteracted by a properly designed IRT.

Langue : ANGLAIS