It's back to talking about GONDOLA on Telecolor (digital terrestrial channel 18), during the program Health Laboratory.
This episode discussed Parkinson's rehabilitation in particular with Dr. Stefano Tassin, creator of GONDOLA, and Dr. Maurizio Gilardi, physical therapist and head of the HISO center in Milan.
Initially, there was a brief discussion of this disabling condition and how the age is declining steadily and alarmingly.
Parkinson's and what it entails
Parkinson's disease impairs the neurons involved in the production and management of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in movement, this leads the body to “economize” on energy, to place more importance on more vital movements, such as breathing, swallowing at the expense of others such as walking.
These disorders go a long way in impacting the patient's life, both in daily activities, social life (patients often have shame or difficulty being with other people because of their symptoms) and work (it may happen that because of symptoms patients are unable to perform their tasks adequately and have to give up going to work), and their families who care for the Parkinsonian.
«Parkinson's is a disease that does not take years from life, but life from years.»
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How the GONDOLA device works
The treatment consists of stimulation of two key points to reactivate this type of movement:
- The head of the big toe: the farthest point of the body and which serves to relearn how long we are in space;
- The base of the first metatarsal, the sesamoid: which serves for the initiative of our stride, in fact the first thing we do when walking is to abduct the big toe. However, this movement is totally absent in Parkinson's patients.
Thus, stimulation of these two points allows the reintegration of two key pieces of information for movement, our length and gait pad.
The therapy delivered by GONDOLA thus goes to activate a very deep motor area where the drug often fails to reach.
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GONDOLA and rehabilitation therapy
The benefits gained from GONDOLA also have a very positive impact on rehabilitation; in fact, Dr. Gilardi explains how his work has changed since his patients use GONDOLA.
Previously, the hour of therapy was much less performance oriented and focused on containing the symptoms caused by Parkinson's disease: in the first half hour they often focused on trying to loosen the patient's rigidity, and then moved on to finding strategies to manage the symptoms, whereas now they are able to carry out real active therapy and see positive and progressing results.
«The best thing patients tell us is, “I don't feel parkinsonian”»
Thanks to GONDOLA, the quality of patients improves greatly
Special guest of the episode was also a Parkinsonian patient accompanied by his granddaughter Maria Luisa, 74-year-old Mr. Victor Quadra, who was diagnosed 8 years ago, moved to Italy from Mexico to be closer to his daughter, and has been using GONDOLA for 2 years with excellent results.
Dr. Gilardi reports:
«Because of Parkinson's Mr. Victor had had to stop taking his little dog out for walks, but since he has been doing GONDOLA combined with good rehabilitation he has been able to start taking him out again.»
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