Freezing of gait causes considerable morbidity in patients with Parkinson's disease and is often refractory to conventional treatments. In this double-blind, randomized evaluation, unilateral interleaved deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus/substantia nigra pars reticulata region significantly improved freezing of gait in a patient with advanced Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is the second-most common neurodegenerative disorder. There is a certain pathological connection between PD and dysphonia. Speech signals have been successfully used to identify PD and predict its severity.
Graduate Program in Physical Therapy, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID), São Paulo, Brazil; Motion Analysis Lab, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID), São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address:
Background: Several measures of the center of pressure have been used to describe magnitude and structure of the postural sway in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to examine whether both the magnitude and structure of the center of pressure trajectory can differentiate PD individuals with and without freezing of gait in both On- and Off-medication states and with eyes open and closed.
Methods: Twenty-four individuals with PD (14 without and 10 with freezing of gait) were tested.
Life and Medical Sciences Area, Health Sciences Discipline, Kobe University, Tomogaoka 7-10-2, Suma-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 654-0142, Japan. Electronic address:
Background: Freezing of gait (FOG) during gait initiation in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) with diminishing amplitude, leading to a risk of falls. Assistance with ankle dorsiflexion function by external devices improve APAs during gait initiation, however, the effect of training to improve ankle dorsiflexion function on APAs during gait initiation is unclear.
Research Question: Does ankle dorsiflexion training improve APAs and FOG during gait initiation in patients with PD?
Method: This 4-week prospective controlled trial included 30 patients with PD, who were divided into two groups: the control group, which received only conventional inpatient rehabilitation, and the intervention group, which received ankle dorsiflexion training in addition to inpatient rehabilitation.
Spinal cord stimulation is a well-established, minimally invasive surgical technique that has been effectively utilized for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes. In the past 15 years, there has been a significant increase in reports on the use of spinal stimulation for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), as well as in isolated cases of atypical parkinsonism. These reports frequently highlight a positive impact of spinal stimulation on gait impairments.
