Overview
Parkinsons disease is a progressive neurological disorder marked by a decline in the efficacy of dopaminergic synapses in the nigrostriatal pathway, causing motor disturbances. Resting tremor, bradykinesia, and muscle rigidity are the most prominent motor features. These factors result in gait impairments, including slowness and freezing. The primary treatment for the disease is medication. However, while medication does reduce motor symptoms, prolonged usage may lead to an increase of dyskinesias and a worsening of a patients clinical condition. Thus, alternative therapies, such as cerebellospinal direct current stimulation (csDCS), have gained popularity. Studies suggest that csDCS may be an effective approach to mitigate gait disorders in this patient population. Kinesiotherapy is an established therapeutic method that has been demonstrated to promote functional mobility and improve gait. To date, the combination of kinesiotherapy and csDCS has not been tested, thus the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this combined therapy for enhancing functional mobility in Parkinsons disease patients. The goal of this study is to assess the efficacy of blending csDCS and kinesiotherapy for improving patients functional mobility in Parkinsons disease. Two groups of volunteers will be assigned: i) actual csDCS + kinesiotherapy, and ii) sham csDCS + kinesiotherapy. The full procedure involves 10 therapy sessions conducted across two weeks.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- a clinical diagnosis of PD provided by a neurologist
- regular dopaminergic drug treatment (at least three months of use)
- aged 40 years or over
- staging I to IV on the modified Hoehn and Yahr scale
Exclusion Criteria:
- other neurological disorders, postural hypotension, vestibular, musculoskeletal or visual disorders that compromise performance in the proposed tests
- other osteoarticular diseases in the lower limbs that interfere with performance and locomotion
- a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score of less than 21 points
- have undergone previous surgery for PD