Gameworld: Motion games broaden uses beyond exercise

By John Gaudiosi
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters Life!) – Ever since Nintendo launched the Wii, gamers have been interacting with characters and working out with virtual trainers in titles like Electronic Arts’ “EA Sports Active” or Ubisoft’s “Your Shape.”
Nintendo is even encouraging families to exercise together with “Wii Games: Summer 2010,” a national tour that kicks off in Jersey City, New Jersey on July 16 with Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson serving as an ambassador for the competition.

Now researchers, scientists and game developers are using Nintendo’s console for many other health-oriented applications, and in some cases are getting millions of dollars in grants to dream up new technologies.

A recent gathering of over 400 top minds at the sixth annual Games for Health Conference in Boston found innovative new ways that video games with motion-sensor controllers are being used to help doctors and patients.

Through a grant from the National Institute of Health, Red Hill Games and the School of Nursing at the University of California San Francisco are using Wii technology to create games that help people with Parkinson’s disease improve their balance. One called “Rail Runner” requires patients to stand up and sit down to operate an old-fashioned railroad hand cart.

“Most of these patients are in their 70s and 80s, and they really love these games,” said Bob Hone, creative director at Red Hill Studios. “They really want something that’s going to address their disease, and what’s different is these games are designed specifically for them.”

Red Hill is incorporating similar Wii technology into games to help improve gait and balance in kids with Cerebral Palsy.

“These kids sometimes have physical challenges, so we’ve taken that into account to make games where they feel like they’re walking and they get to the finish line successfully,” said Hone.

GROWING BUSINESS
This fall, Sony Computer Entertainment America will launch PlayStation Move for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft will introduce Kinect for Xbox 360. These new devices are expected to not only open up gaming to a new mainstream audience, but also offer pioneers in the burgeoning Games for Health arena the ability to dream up new technology.

“The impact of these new technologies is going to be as seismic as Nintendo was when it originally came out with the Wii and the Wii balance board, because it’s going to extend across more platforms,” said Stephen Yang, a researcher and assistant professor at New York’s College of Courtland.

“There are a lot of great game designers out there who will be able to tap into these new physical interactions with games and bring new experiences that will be both fun and beneficial for patients,” Yang said.

John Lumpkin, MD, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has seen first-hand the advances that motion-sensor controllers and physical games have had on both his patients and his own children.

“These games promote motion, which increases the heart rate and burns more calories,” said Lumpkin. “Even a game with the simplest motion like playing drums on ‘Rock Band’ can have a gamer burning twice as many calories per hour as he or she would just sitting around, while a more vigorous game like ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ can burn as many as six times the amount of calories,” said Lumpkin.
Lumpkin said what really excites him, and many in his field, is that fact that today researchers are using a Wii balance board game to help stroke victims regain their balance just as effectively as an $18,000 piece of equipment.

That’s one reason why the Games for Health sector has been growing exponentially over the past six years with no slowdown in sight.

“When you look at the economic activity associated with Health Care in the U.S. it’s approximately 16 percent of gross domestic product, even in countries that spend less on health care, it’s still double-digit GDPs,” said Ben Sawyer, co-founder, Games for Health.

“Small games for health developers are receiving grants in the tens of millions to the low hundreds of millions” of dollars, said Sawyer. “When you combine those numbers with game sales of titles like Konami’s ‘Dance Dance Revolution,’ Ubisoft’s ‘Your Shape,’ Nintendo’s ‘Wii Fit’ and Electronic Arts’ ‘EA Sports Active,’ the Games for Health sector is well over $1 billion annually.”

The Benefits of Exercise for People Who Suffer From Parkinson’s Disease

by Jeremy Parker

Many sufferers of Parkinson’s disease quickly find that various aspects of their life are no longer controllable in the way that they used to be however by exercising regularly Parkinson sufferers can continue to control their gross movements i.e. walking, holding objects etc. for longer which adds a mental and emotional boost to their wellbeing. Research has shown that exercise may also improve the synthesis of dopamine in the brain and increase the levels of neurotrophic factors which are beneficial compounds.

Exercise for people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease incorporates muscle strengthening, flexibility and toning activities so that muscles and joints stay flexible and strong. It is normal for a physiotherapist to implement an exercise schedule for the patient that includes a range of activities to work all muscles of the body over a two or three day period. So for example, day one of the cycle may include walking and strengthening exercises for the arms and hands whereas day two might be a yoga class where flexibility of the joints is the main focus.

It is essential to monitor the patient’s progress, not only so that any improvements and decreases in function are recorded but also as a stimulus for the patient; when people see improvement and can visualise the effort that they put in they are much more positive about continuing the regime.

In general exercise should test the entire body and not just the limbs so that posture and movement is maintained for as long as possible. Good posture is essential in the later stages of Parkinson’s disease because stooping can hamper breathing and swallowing. Exercises for posture include callisthenics, yoga, Pilates, tai chi, and swimming however not every sufferer will enjoy these types of activities. Simply sitting upright while reading a book or watching TV and walking with a straight back will also help though, thus walking the dog or playing with the children or grandchildren are great ways to work the body muscles and to enjoy daily exercising.

Regular exercise for the Parkinson’s sufferer will reduce the incidence of muscle cramps, rigidity of the joints and the aches and pains associated with staying still for long periods of time. Also, because exercise helps the sufferer to maintain control over many of their gross movements (although maybe not the tremors) it gives them a heightened sense of achievement and so stress and anxiety levels remain low. Keeping a positive mental attitude is incredibly important in conditions like Parkinson’s disease where sufferer can very easily become frustrated and discouraged with their predicament.

As with all exercise routines, the patient should start with a good warm up followed by the exercise activity of their choice or which has been scheduled for that day, and then they should finish with a positive cool down so that the chances of developing muscle cramps and injuries are greatly reduced. An exercise session should ideally last around 15-20 minutes and should not by any means exhaust the patient. Overexertion can be equally as damaging to a Parkinson’s sufferer as no exercise at all.

In order to make daily exercise more appealing and less of a chore it may be worth trying to find a friend or relative that is willing to exercise with the patient. Also, a bit of variety in the type of exercise will not only mean that the exercise stays interesting but it will also ensure that all muscles and joints of the body are used to a satisfactory level.

Can Regular Yoga “Cure” Diseases?

By Michael Hutch PhD

Various forms of yoga have been scientifically shown to handle and perhaps even “remedy” various persistent diseases. Listed below are various medical issues that have been proved scientifically to be improved by yoga.

Asthma: Yoga breathing exercises possibly could assist sufferers of mild asthma and may help decrease their use of low-dose drug inhalers in wheezing attacks. Researchers from the Respiratory Medicine Unit, City University, Nottingham, call for added studies of ways of improving breathing mastery which they say have been largely unheeded by Western medicine. while yoga practitioners have long believed in the benefits of pranayama breathing exercises for asthmatics, this has been difficult to examine formally. But, using a Pink City lung – a device that imposes slow breathing on the user and can mimic pranayama breathing exercises – it was possible to measure the effects of controlled breathing in a hospital test. Two simulated pranayama exercises were tested: slow deep breathing and breathing out for twice as long as breathing in. In asthma, the airways become restricted making breathing difficult. It is increasing in the UK, with more than three million children and adults affected, and are responsible for 2,000 deaths annually. The doctors used standard clinical tests to measure the volume of air patients were able to blow out in a second and to test the irritability of their airways. After yoga, their airways were two times less irritable.

Parkinson’s disease: Yoga has a key purpose in management of Parkinson’s as it has emerged as a helpful alternate therapy and an ideal mode of exercise for Parkinson’s patients because of its gradual movements. Following the steps mentioned below could successfully help individuals with Parkinson’s: 1. Concentrate on controlling your breath (Pranayama) as this brand of yoga helps in moments of panic – such as feet sticking to the flooring when walking. In this form of yoga, the mind is always watchful. 2. Few yoga exercises like back strengthening postures, lots of shoulder movements, breathing practices and some meditation positively helps. 3. One of the most useful forms of yoga used for Parkinson’s is Ashtanga Yoga. It works to strengthen the body and perform increases blood circulation. 4. day-to-day practice of yoga is all-important since Parkinson’s itself does not inevitably weaken the muscles. Weakening of muscles is ordinarily caused by lack of motion. Daily exercise should be encouraged, but not enough to generate tiredness. 5. Parkinson’s also result in the loss of motility of the facial muscles. Pranayama and supplementary yoga movements could aid in relaxing those muscles and bring a smile on the face of the patient.

Diabetes: Diabetes in a lot of forms affects up to 5percent of the world population with 12 million diabetics in Western Europe alone. Of the unique ways in which diabetes presents, noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is probably the most usually encountered genetic condition. NIDDM or Type II diabetes is multifactorial, depending also on environmental factors including obesity, sedentary lifestyles and nutritional imbalances. One of the studies conducted to cure diabetes was the one set up by the Yoga Biomedical Trust, founded in 1982 by biochemist Dr Robin Monro, and an Indian yoga research foundation which discovered that practicing yoga for 30 minutes a day for one month helped reduce blood glucose levels in some diabetics.The yoga patients took part in one or two 90-minute sessions a week and were asked to practise at home. The classes included the particular yoga exercises of the spinal twist, the bow and abdominal breathing. At the conclusion of the 12 weeks blood sugar levels fell significantly in all patients in the group and were slightly raised in a control group which had not joined in the yoga sessions. Three yoga students managed to cutback their medication, including one man who had not altered his drug regimen for 20 years. It is not necessarily the exercise element of the yoga therapy package which is most significant, as there is not adequate physical exercise to account for the changes, but stress decrease has a lot to do with it. Stress hormones increase sugar levels in the blood. individuals also benefit from the stabilisation of their moods which yoga brings, an increased perception of well-being and a belief of being more in mastery, which may assist with their diet control and consequently their diabetes.

Researchers Say Exercises Can Reduce Parkinson’s Effects

Scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh and University of Southern California discovered that exercise can slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease (known as “PD”).

Sat Feb 06 2010] The studies suggest that regular physical activity can help to reduce damage to neurons in the brain that causes Parkinson’s disease.

“Parkinson’s disease is an illness that affects muscle movement,” says Kay Mixson Jenkins, author of the new children’s book Who Is Pee Dee? “Anything that can help to maintain normal muscle tone and flexibility is extremely important.”

Ms. Jenkins was diagnosed with PD when she was just thirty-four. She decided to write her book to help her children understand the disease. The story follows a young boy named Colt as he tries to deal with his mother’s chronic illness.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects nearly 1.5 million Americans; approximately 50,000 are diagnosed with the disease every year.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Exercise has important benefits for everyone regardless of age or physical condition... When your condition threatens to immobilize you, exercise keeps you moving... To retain your mobility and function, use it or lose it.”

Exercises cannot stop Parkinson’s disease progression, but based on the study, regular physical activity can help PD patients to:

• minimize further cell damage.
• decrease loss of cognitive skills.
• increase muscle control and build muscle strength.
• improve balance and coordination.
• reduce depression.

“Unfortunately, there is no cure yet for Parkinson’s disease,” says Ms. Jenkins. “I believe that exercise can help to delay the progression of Parkinson’s and improve emotional well-being, which is very important for PD patients.”

Kay Mixson Jenkins is the Georgia state co-coordinator for the Parkinson’s Action Network, leads the Effingham County Parkinson’s support group and was selected as a Parkinson’s patient advocate for UCB, Inc.