Punching Parkinson's

In the Healthy Living section of today's Indianapolis Star newspaper was an article titled, "Punching Parkinson's: Exercise makes a difference for patients with the disease." The article discusses a noncontact boxing class for men with Parkinson's. Part of the class involves punching a lifelike torso the men call "Parkie" for Parkinson's. The class instructor stated: "We call him Parkie. He deserves to be hit." The article explains that getting exercise is "extremely important for people with Parkinson's...." Dr. Joanne Wojcieszek, director of the Parkinson's Research Group at Indiana University stated in the article that: "I have seen exercise make a huge difference in the patients' lives."

In reading the article I wondered if any recreational therapists were running exercise programs for persons with Parkinson's. Such programs seem to have merit.