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Parkinson's disease or Parkinson's disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects a person's ability to move his body. Symptoms of the disease appear slowly and if it has reached the final stage, the patient may need surgery. However, patients can also run therapy as an alternative treatment. One of the therapies that can be applied to patients with Parkinson's disease is music therapy.
Effects of music therapy for Parkinson's disease patients
In the treatment of Parkinson's disease, apart from medical treatment, patients are also strongly advised to undergo complementary therapies aimed at improving their quality of life.
Usually, therapy used in Parkinson's patients includes exercises that will encourage the body to move more, such as boxing, yoga, and tai chi. However, other activities related to the creative and artistic side of things such as music therapy are in fact no less important for Parkinson's patients.
Music provides mental and physical health benefits. Music is also able to provide changes to a person's emotions.
Music therapy can be an important alternative method recommended for Parkinson's patients because of its mood-enhancing effects.
It should be noted, Parkinson's disease does not only affect the ability to move the body, but also the cognitive characteristics and psychological state of the patient.
Parkinson's is caused by a lack of nerve cells that help in the production of a hormone called dopamine. Besides functioning for the coordination of body movements, dopamine also has an important role in creating the sensation of happiness and other positive emotions.
In Parkinson's patients, low levels of dopamine can cause mood disorders that can even appear before motor symptoms occur.
This disorder can also sometimes lead to psychological problems that Parkinson's patients commonly experience, such as depression or anxiety disorders.
Therefore, the existence of music is needed for Parkinson's patients to help them feel better.
In addition, music therapy can also have a good effect on the cerebello-thalamo-cortical network in the brain. This network plays an important role in carrying out a person's abilities and skills when moving his body. Music therapy will help the patient train the speed of body movement.
How does music therapy work?
The therapy will be conducted by a music therapist at the hospital. Usually the therapy is done in groups and begins with a warm up before singing.
Therapy can be done with different materials in each place, but generally the patient will be asked to sing a song while reading the lyrics on a large screen or on paper that has been distributed.
By practicing singing, it is hoped that Parkinson's patients can improve the volume and quality of the voice, considering that this condition can also cause symptoms of hypophonia, which is a low volume sound. Singing also strengthens the muscles, which in turn helps the patient with breathing and swallowing.
The lyrics sung in the song also help improve memory skills, of course this also improves the cognitive ability of patients to digest and memorize new songs.
During music therapy, Parkinson's patients will also practice using rhythms and melodies to train movement. The rhythm that is played will help the patient to train the coordination of body movements, Similar to gymnastics or dancing, the patient will be asked to move the body according to the beat of the song being played.
Parkinson's patients often have difficulty concentrating and completing activities. Therefore, rhythm training is expected to increase the patient's attention span.
Although it cannot cure Parkinson's disease, it is still proven that music therapy can reduce the symptoms felt by patients. Through music therapy, patients are also given the means to socialize with other Parkinson's patients.
However, you should not rely solely on one alternative method such as music therapy alone, trying a variety of other therapies might be better to help improve the quality of life for Parkinson's patients.
