Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor impairment. Freezing of gait, impaired mobility and falls are common problems in these patients. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a novel therapy for these patients. Methods: We studied patients with moderate to severe freezing of gait who underwent antigravity treadmill training twice a week for 4 consecutive weeks with 50% reduction of body weight. Results: We enrolled 26 consecutive patients with PD, 19 completed the study. There were 10 males; mean age at evaluation was 72.7 ± 10.1 years. Compared to baseline, patients showed improvement in the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (p = 0.001); and a mean reduction of 7 s in the Timed Up & Go (TUG) test (p = 0.004). Moderate or significant improvement in gait was reported by 84% of patients. Conclusions: Antigravity treadmill training improved freezing of gait and mobility in patients with PD.

中文翻译：

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帕金森氏病步态冻结的反重力跑步机训练

背景：帕金森氏病（PD）是一种以运动障碍为特征的神经退行性疾病。步态冻结，活动能力下降和跌倒是这些患者的常见问题。我们旨在评估针对这些患者的新型疗法的效果。方法：我们研究了中度至重度步态冻结的患者，他们每周两次接受抗重力跑步机训练，连续4周，体重减轻了50％。结果：我们连续招募了26例PD患者，其中19例完成了研究。男10例；男10例。评估的平均年龄为72.7±10.1岁。与基线相比，患者的步态冻结问卷显示有所改善（p = 0.001）；并在Time＆Up＆Go（TUG）测试中平均减少了7 s（p= 0.004）。据报道84％的患者步态有中度或明显改善。结论：抗重力跑步机训练可改善PD患者的步态冻结和活动能力。