Complementary and Alternative Medicine Therapies for Parkinson’s Disease

CAM Therapies

Complementary and alternative medicine or CAM is a name given to a range of therapies that are more often practiced in eastern than in western countries, such as acupuncture. Acupuncture has been practiced for centuries in China. In the past few decades, several scientific investigations have established that certain forms of needle acupuncture can trigger release of the body's natural opioids and other chemicals that may help with healing. Studies on meditation and relaxation, massage therapy, yoga and Tai Chi have also shown that they can have positive impact if delivered by well-trained practitioners.
In 1998, the National Institute of Health (NIH) established the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicines (NCCAM) in order to boost research into these therapies to see if they can work -- because lots of people were spending money on these therapies, even though it was unclear if they worked. The good news is that several CAM therapies appear to have significant (better than placebo) and positive effects on health.
Choosing a CAM Therapy and a Practitioner
• To help you choose a CAM therapy that is right for you, talk with your neurologist and make sure that the therapy in question poses no undue risks to you.
• NEVER listen to any CAM therapist who tells you that levodopa is toxic or that Parkinson’s disease can be cured via their therapy.
• Make sure that the therapist is a licensed, certified practitioner and that the license is obtained from a reputable source.
• Ask the therapist if your health insurance will help cover the costs. Many therapists have to present educational and training credentials to insurance companies before the insurance companies will cover their clients. Always prefer therapies that are covered by insurance, it both keeps your costs down and it helps establish the legitimacy of the therapist.
• Ask the therapist about the risks associated with the treatment and how those risks will be minimized in your case.
• Ask the therapist how many treatment sessions are necessary before you can expect to feel positive results.
If you do not receive satisfactory answers to these questions, or if the therapist can present no credentials then it may be wise to seek an alternative therapist.

Acupuncture

During acupuncture, sterile needles (about the size of a human hair) are inserted into various regions of the body, like the earlobe, the back, the buttocks and the legs in order to re-balance "energy flows" in the body. Usually several treatment sessions are required lasting anywhere from a half hour to an hour. After the needles are put into place the therapist turns on some relaxing music and leaves the room. You then relax and allow the needles to do their work. After a few minutes the needles are removed and that’s it.
To date, only a single study has evaluated effects of acupuncture on Parkinson's disease and that study found no improvement of motor or mood symptoms in the 20 patients who had the treatments. These same patients, however, reported that they felt a bit better and slept a bit better.

Massage Therapies

Common sense suggests that if you feel stiffness, pain and rigidity in your muscles, massage will help. It is no wonder then that many people with PD utilize various forms of massage therapy to relieve some of their symptoms. Most often this use of massage therapy is supported by PD specialists as long as the massage therapist is a trained and certified therapist.
There are many forms of massage therapy including Swedish massage, neuromuscular therapy, Shiatsu, acupressure, craniosacral therapy and many others besides. To date only neuromuscular therapy (NMT) has been assessed with adequately controlled experimental designs. NMT focuses on manipulating "trigger points" in the body -- places in muscle tissue that have become "knots" and painful discomfort. These trigger points are gently massaged until they dissolve away. The good news is that the available evidence suggests that NMT appears to have significant beneficial effects on both motor and non-motor symptoms of PD. All of the other forms of massage therapy have been assessed in less rigorous ways but they too generally show significant positive impact on PD symptoms.
How does massage work? It very likely makes you feel good to start with. This "feel good" effect alone may boost your mood and relieve muscle tension. Massage can also increase blood supply to your muscles and increase your range of motion in those muscles thus decreasing rigidity in those muscle groups.
Don’t be deterred by the expense involved in massage therapy if it helps you. More and more therapeutic massage is being covered by insurance –- especially if your doctor prescribes it as medically necessary.

Relaxation and Meditation Techniques

Living with PD can be stressful and with time, it can become more difficult to find ways to relax. Studies show that one way to relax is to actively attempt to do so by setting aside 20 minutes per day to just sit, watch your breath and then just let your mind wander. When you find your attention wandering just smile and bring it back to your breath…and that’s all you need to do each day.
You can add more intense relaxation exercises to these meditation sittings by simply turning your attention away from your breath and onto one body region at a time. Many persons with PD find it valuable to listen to "guided relaxation" tapes or CDs. Here the guide walks you through relaxation of one muscle group after another until your whole body has received attention and is relaxed.
Here are some other tips that may be helpful to you in your relaxation and meditation exercises:
• Make relaxation and meditation a daily practice. 20 minutes each day without worrying about getting it "right"…just put in the time each day and your body will soon respond
• Select a form of meditation that fits your fundamental beliefs. A Christian might visualize sitting in the presence of Jesus while an atheist might visualize sitting on a quiet sunlit beach…find an image that works for you, that gives you a sense of peace and well-being and then just bask in it.
• Use a "mantra," or a short phrase, that has some spiritual content that you repeat over and over again, while you sit and breathe. Again choose a mantra that fits with your fundamental beliefs and that gives you comfort. A religious person might just repeat “Lord” over and over again, while an atheist might repeat “calm” over and over again.

Chinese Martial Arts

One of the major problems for people with PD is postural instability. If you have difficulty maintaining your balance you might fall and hurt yourself. Strengthening your muscles through exercise can offset some of the postural problems associated with PD. Adding some training in Chinese martial arts techniques, in addition to your regular exercise regimen, may help you to better compensate for these postural problems AND strengthen your muscles more generally.
Always check with your doctor before you attempt any of these martial arts training programs.

T’ai Chi Chuan (TCC)

TCC combines aspects of aerobic exercise and measured breathing with slow, dance-like movements derived from self-defense moves. The best way to learn TCC and related arts (like QiGong) is to learn it from a trained professional. There are now many Chinese martial arts centers in the major cities. Just make sure that your trainer has some certifications in the practice before signing on with him. To date studies have not shown significant motor benefits in Western PD patients as the techniques take so long to learn. But non-westerners and Chinese patients, who have been exposed to these martial arts programs for many years may derive more benefit. The jury is still out on these programs with respect to benefits for people with PD.

Yoga

Yoga exercise classes are now available in every major city in the West and probably in the East as well. To date no controlled studies of yoga for PD have been published. But it is possible that low-impact forms of Yoga may be helpful for PD. Yoga as taught in the West typically involves learning a series of body postures that allow for stretching and relaxing muscle groups. Yoga also involves spiritual and meditative exercises as well as attention to breath.
As will all the other CAM therapies, find a practitioner who is certified in the yoga therapy he or she is offering. Ask him or her to modify the traditional yoga postures to accommodate your limitations.