Acupuncture May Improve Gait in Patients With Parkinson Disease

A single acupuncture treatment improved gait symptoms in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), according to findings from a preliminary study published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

“Balance and gait disorders are relevant symptoms in the quality of life of Parkinson patients. Currently, there is no therapy to reverse or treat this condition,” explained a research team from Portugal. “Acupuncture treatment is believed to improve motor ability through the cortico-basal-thalamus-cortical-ganglia.”

The randomized, controlled crossover study included seven patients with PD. Researchers randomized patients to an initial treatment with actual acupuncture or sham acupuncture. Patients later received a treatment with the alternate intervention. Researchers used a gait analysis system consisting of 11 cameras and four force platforms to gauge changes in biomechanical variables for each patient before and after each treatment.

After acupuncture, patients demonstrated significant differences in gait speed, gait cadence, support base width, mediolateral oscillation, left-right step length, and stride length (specifically, right-right and left-left, time of left support phase, right support phase, and double support phase), according to the study.

“In the orthostatic position, with both feet symmetrically next to each other, in a stable support base and with open eyes, acupuncture treatment showed a tendency to decrease the migration area of the center of pressure, [which] could indicate an improvement in balance,” researchers wrote.

After either intervention, patients also showed differences in right-left stride length.

Citing the potential for gait improvement revealed in the preliminary study, researchers called for additional, larger studies into the use of acupuncture to improve gait and balance in patients with PD.

Reference:
Pereira CR, Criado MB, Machado J, Pereira CT, Santos MJ. Acute effects of acupuncture in balance and gait of Parkinson disease patients - a preliminary study. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2021;45:101479. doi:10.1016/j.ctcp.2021.101479