Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease (PD) affected 6.2 million people worldwide in 2015 (Mortality & Causes of Death, 2016). The cause of the disease is not well understood, but genetic and environmental factors seem to play an important part. The disease involves death of cells in the substantia nigra, located in the midbrain. The death of these cells results in a reduction in the hormone dopamine in this part of the brain, impacting it's function. Because this location of the brain is heavily involved in motor functioning, the majority of symptoms for this disease involve movement. Well known PD symptoms include shaking/tremors, axial rigidity, bradykinesia (slow movement), and difficulty walking. A myriad of other symptoms and sequelae exist, and can be read about here.
These symptoms may also be seen in Parkinsonian syndromes, a group of conditions which may present identically but have differing pathophysiology. A list and description of these conditions may be found here.
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Front line treatment for PD involves medication homologous to the missing hormone dopamine, which allows the patient a reprieve from the symptoms they would normally experience. Medication typically varies in effectiveness from person to person and will decline in effectiveness over time. In people who have had PD for over 4 years and are receptive to medication, a deep brain stimulator (DBS) may be implemented to help alleviate motor symptoms.
Physical therapy has been a standard of PD intervention for some time, with strategies to bypass the problematic section of the motor pathway being most effective. Interventions that utilise virtual reality may offer an addition to the ever growing pool of Parkinson's interventions. It is both engaging and provides clear progression through goals such as completing difficult levels or attaining a high score.
The following VR based interventions have evidence for their use in the PD patient population:
References
(2016). Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet (London, England), 388(10053), 1459-1544.