Patients Get In The Boxing Ring To Fight Parkinson’s
San Francisco's Rock Steady Boxing offers those with Parkinson's an alternative therapy to a disease that has so often been tied to the sport.
KQED News:
Using Boxing To Put A Pause On Parkinson’s
With the sound of a bell, the round starts. Eight boxers, lined up along heavy bags, begin throwing punches. Their coach, Kim Voronin, paces back and forth behind the line, calling out new combinations to throw during the three-minute round. These fighters are part of a class held in San Francisco called Rock Steady Boxing, and they all have one important fact in common. They all suffer from Parkinson’s disease.From legendary boxers Muhammad Ali and Floyd Patterson to boxing coach Freddie Roach, Parkinson’s disease has been notably tied to the sport of boxing. Now, non-contact boxing is emerging as a useful therapy for the disease. (Hosea-Small, 9/28)