I have been attending boxing classes for Parkinsons over the last couple of years and have found this to be as therapeutic as any of the meds .Fellow class mates have come in with mobility scooters that they now no longer need after just a few sessions, we are in Norwich and have people from as far away as Blackpool coming to attend .Its a pity that the benefit of boxing has not been rolled out nationally, why don't Parkinsons UK get behind it and give every body the chance to slow the disease .
AS a former boxer my self ,I get great benefits from these boxing sessions and I am to wondering why Parkinson's UK are not behind or why they are not advertising this , its works for me and believe it will work for others
As an official body Parkinsonsncan only ecommend thereapies which have undergone rigoroous clinical studies However, they could include it in their booklet on Complementary Therapies as the experience of the Rocksteady movement in the US is pretty convincing. However there we
have the chicken and egg effect because as far as any form of boxercise is concerned, Norwich is the only onliy approach using boxing I have heard of in the UK
Thanks Eileenpatricia In a way the question of exercise or therapy arises in what to promote as in what part of forum to place it in . Some research literature exists from the states but specific clinical trials don't and are unlikely to since such trials have to be financed usually by pharmaceutical companies . I take the view that our biology knows what it is doing far better than we ourselves know what it is doing , I sit here with over a trillion cells all engaged in some activity of which I am blissfully unaware but the net result is I am alive . Whilst medical science does improve its understanding I feel it still only scratches at the edges an old jest in medical training was that it was the role of the doctor to entertain the patient whilst the body healed itself ,
Encouraging the body to use its own vast knowledge and resource seems key and exercise is that encouragement . More specifically Boxing uses multiple simultaneous movements that involve all limbs to co -ordinate and still further concentration of movement focus when done in sequence. Functional MRI scanning has shown this to stimulate the substantia nigra part of the brain to which Parkinsons is present. Of course other exercise can do this as well such as dancing though the rigour of boxing exertion seems to affirm it more .When is boxing classed as a therapy or an exercise or both is partly answered by the need for clinical trial to be a fully fledged therapy ,that it is an exercise that can have very positive results for people with Parkinsons I can testify and as such it is at least a complimentary therapy as suggested .
As an official body Parkinsons Uk could I suggest take a closer look to satisfy themselves and promote it as an exercise , I think we ourselves should look to the sports funding bodies as well . On an aside Eileenpatricia your photo reminds me of a mountain in the annapurna range in Nepal a great place to be !! Happy Christmas all.
