Posts tagged dance

ROBERT FREY IS WORKING ON HIS DANCE MOVES SOT ROBERT FREY, DANCER: Im not gonna become a professional dancer by any means but ya know it keeps my body moving in the ways it needs to move. MOVING ISNT ALWAYS EASY FOR FREY WHO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PARKINSONS DISEASE ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO. BUT TAPPING HIS TOES TO THE BEAT IS HELPING FREY *BEAT SOME OF HIS SYMPTOMS. SOT ROBERT FREY: Physically and emotionally, its a lift. FREY IS GETTING THAT LIFT HERE IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA THROUGH A DANCE PROGRAM DESIGNED FOR PEOPLE WITH PARKINSONS DISEASE. SOT DR. TED ROTHSTEIN, MD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY, GWU: There have been studies that have been published which show that dance techniques seem to produce more improvement in patients Parkinsons Disease symptoms than ordinary physical therapy. PARKINSONS IS A MOVEMENT DISORDER CHARACTERIZED BY TREMORS, STIFFNESS AND SLOW MOTIONS. ITS CAUSED BY THE DEFICIENCY OF A CHEMICAL IN THE BRAIN CALLED DOPAMINE. SOT DR. TED ROTHSTEIN: Dance usually involves music and music can actually stimulate the production of dopaminethe other point about dance therapy is that we know if patients tap their hand in a certain rhythm they can sometimes do things that they could not do otherwise. SANDY MYLES REMEMBERS WATCHING HER FATHER DEAL WITH PARKINSONS. SOT SANDY MYLES: So when my hands started to tremor, I knew. Ya know, somehow I just knew that thats what it was. MYLES IS TRYING TO POSTPONE TAKING MEDICATION FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLESHE SAYS DANCE IS …