Motorised therapy bike to help Parkinson’s disease sufferers at Osborne Park Hospital

A MOTORISED therapy bike is helping people with Parkinson’s disease at Osborne Park Hospital.

MSWA donated the bike to the North Metropolitan Parkinson’s Service, which runs at the hospital.

The purpose-built machine allows for therapy using the forced exercise concept, where the participant maintains a higher exercise rate than their preferred voluntary rate.

Hospital clinical head of services Barry Vieira said studies proved that increased cadence and speed helped maintain function and were possibly neuroprotective in the long term.

“We thank MSWA for this generous donation and look forward to incorporating the bike into our therapy sessions,” he said.

Research showed that forced exercise leads to improvements in motor control and cortical activation in people with Parkinson’s, according to senior physiotherapist Tanya Pember.

“The studies have proven that by incorporating the motorised bike into treatment sessions, people with Parkinson’s have shown significant improvements in tremor, speed of movement and rigidity,” she said.

“We also expect to see improvements in motor function, aerobic fitness and overall health and wellbeing.”

Kent Piercy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in early 2017, will join the motorised bike program.

“I am currently using a fixed bike at home and can feel the difference in my flexibility and strength, so I am looking forward to using this new bike in my therapy sessions at Osborne Park Hospital and seeing the results,” he said.

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