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R
E S E A R C H
Trager For Parkinson's
Disease and Rigidity
Trager® therapy reduced
the level of evoked stretch responses in Parkinson’s disease
patients, indicating a reduction in rigidity, according to a research
study.
"The Effect of Trager Therapy
on the Level of Evoked Stretch Responses in Patients with Parkinson’s
Disease and Rigidity" was conducted by staff at the Montreal
Neurological Institute and McGill Centre for Studies on Aging, at
McGill University; Concordia University Department of Exercise Science;
and the University of Quebec Department of Kinanthropology.
Twenty-six patients with a mean age
of 58.5 years and a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease were
assigned to receive either 20 minutes of Trager therapy on the more
rigid side of their body (ipsi group), or on the opposite side (contra
group).
Half the patients in each group received
the treatment in a supine position on a massage table; the other
half received the treatment while sitting in a chair.
Trager work, according to the U.S. Trager
Association, consists of the support and movement of the client’s
body within a pain-free range, so that he or she may experience the
feeling of moving effortlessly, release tension and allow new movement
patterns to emerge.
This study, which focused on upper-limb
rigidity of the participants, involved gentle manipulation of the
shoulder, trunk, leg, arm and hand. Depending on which group the
subject was in, either the more-rigid or less-rigid arm was supported
by the therapist and put into a gentle rocking motion while the
subject lay passively supine on the massage table or sat passively
in a chair.
Before each Trager session, and at
one and 11 minutes after each session, rhythmic, passive flexion
and extension of the participant’s wrist was imposed, and
electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded. Researchers measured
the level of evoked stretch responses (ESR), which show up as bursts
in the EMG readings and correlate to rigidity levels.
Each evaluation consisted of three
consecutive, 12-second trials, during which the EMG activity of
the extensor digitorum communis and flexor carpi radialis was recorded.
Results of the study showed that rigidity
was significantly reduced at both one and 11 minutes after the Trager
session, and that only the position of the patients (sitting or
supine) affected the results, not the side treated (ipsi or contra).
"Results seem to indicate that
the contra-sitting position is much less significant than other
conditions," the report stated.
"In conclusion, results from the
present study strongly suggest that it is possible to modify the
level of ESR by using Trager therapy. The present results may eventually
lead to the development of a specific complementary therapy for
patients with [Parkinson’s disease] and rigidity."
- Source:
Montreal Neurological Institute and
McGill Centre for Studies on Aging, McGill University; Concordia
University Department of Exercise Science; University of Quebec
Department of Kinanthropology. Authors: Christian Duval, Denis Lafontaine,
Jacques Herbert, Alain Leroux, Ph.D., Michel Panisset, M.D., and
Jean P. Boucher, Ph.D. Originally published in the Journal of Manipulative
and Physiological Therapeutics, Sept. 2002, Vol. 25, No. 7, pp.
455-464.
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