If you have Parkinson's disease, experts say you should be dancing. Here's why
CBC
Though she's always danced, Barbara Salsberg Mathews found a more urgent reason to take classes a few years ago.
"I just thought, 'I better break out and start dancing, because Parkinson's can't stop me from dancing,'" said Salsberg Mathews, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2020.
Over the years, as symptoms of muscle weakness and stiffness have settled into her body, the 67-year-old says dance makes her feel like herself again.
"When I'm lost in the music, so to speak, I feel freer, my range and fluidity of my movement just comes right back," she said.
And growing evidence suggests that dance can help slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. It's because of that research that experts are launching a national online arts hub that aims to connect Parkinson's patients across Canada to different programs, like singing and dancing.
Rebecca Barnstaple, an assistant professor of theatre at the University of Guelph, is leading the launch of the online arts hub.
"If participating in something like dance can help someone feel better, even as they're living with a neurodegenerative condition, then that's what I hope to be able to promote," she said.
Her project is part of a broader movement toward social prescribing, which focuses on using social services to improve overall well-being and fill in some gaps within the healthcare system.
"When someone feels or is told or knows they have a movement disorder, they think dance is not for them," Barnstable said.
"But this is exactly the moment when we should dance."
Right now, more than 110,000 Canadians are living with Parkinson's disease — a number that's expected to grow to more than 150,000 in less than 10 years, according to Parkinson's Canada.
"In a few years from now, [Parkinson's] will become the most common neurodegenerative disease," said Dr. Alfonso Fasano, a neurologist at University Health Network in Toronto.
In Canada, people with Parkinson's can wait up to two years to see a specialist or receive treatment — instead of spending that time feeling hopeless Barnstaple wants them to feel empowered.
She's been teaching dance to people with Parkinson's since 2013 and has seen the benefits firsthand.
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