International set-dancing trial for Parkinson’s patients

RESEARCH into the beneficial effects of set dancing on Parkinson’s Disease (PD) sufferers is to be broadened on the back of findings of a research study conducted by an Italian neurologist and presented in Feakle this week.

 

At the international health conference held in East Clare on Tuesday, Italian neurologist Dr Daniele Volpe outlined that Parkinson’s patients, who were exposed to six months of Irish set dancing as a form of therapy, improved significantly in three key areas.

He said the findings revealed significant improvements in these patients’ mobility, balance and quality of life, compared with the other participants in the study who were given conventional physiotherapy for the same period.

Speaking to The Clare Champion on Wednesday, Dr Volpe revealed he had come from an important meeting with the University of Limerick (UL) at which it was decided to embark on an international study into the effects of Irish set dancing on 80 patients with PD.

He outlined how the research came about. “It was an idea I had when I came to Feakle in 2010 for the traditional music festival. I was playing guitar and I saw a man with PD dancing in front of me and when I went back to Italy, I started to study set dancing.

“I started a research project with patients of PD and I divided the patients into groups. I submitted one group to Irish set dancing for six months and the other group to conventional physiotherapy and after six months, we awaited the outcomes.

“We showed the Irish dancing group improved significantly in mobility, in balance and in quality of life. It was great and very significant data,” he said.

Dr Volpe said he had an important meeting in UL with Dr Amanda Clifford, lecturer at the university, and Joanne Shanahan, MSc research student, in which it was decided to run a randomised trial this September.

“We will start an international randomised trial on Irish set dancing in September, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, Australia with Professor Meg Morris and we are very happy we can have a study with 80 patients in Ireland, Australia and Italy,” Dr Volpe said.

He said the basis of this study will be to apply the data of his pilot study, with a view to offering this as a form of intervention to those with PD.

“We want to give this as an intervention, especially in countries like Ireland where there are not many rehabilitation facilities. So we have to propose intervention based on the evidence that can help people living with Parkinson’s Disease,” he said.

He concluded that the day went extremely well and he was most happy for his patients, who attended the conference and gave demonstrations of the set dancing they had learned.

“We had 100 people dancing in the céilí and that’s important. It is a dance which is enjoyable and it is so helpful for these patients,” he said.

Attending this week’s conference was Professor Timothy Lynch, consultant neurologist and clinical director of Dublin Neurological Institute at the Mater University Hospital, Dublin, who gave a presentation entitled Parkinson’s Disease – A Complex Disorder.

Dr Clifford and Ms Shanahan spoke on the practical recommendations for dancing for people with PD and the feasibility of Irish set dancing in PD patients.

Visitors to the conference were then treated to a demonstration of set dancing with Parkinson’s Disease patients from Italy and Ireland (UL), accompanied by world renowned musicians, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill.

Meanwhile, a workshop was held instructing set dancing for tutors and for people with Parkinson’s Disease. It was conducted by Romano and Stefania Baratella and Ms Shanahan.

The evening’s sessions continued with a céilí with music by Charlie Harris, Mark Donnellan and Jim Corry.