Scientists revive 19th century treatment for Parkinson's disease

Credit: A.S. Kapur, G.T. Stebbins, and C.G. Goetz

The vibration chair actually helped Parkinson's disease patients significantly, but it is thought to be a placebo effect.

ScienceDaily — In the 19^th century, Jean-Martin Charcot, the celebrated neurologist, developed a "vibration chair," to relieve symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Charcot reported improvements in his patients, but he died shortly thereafter and a more complete evaluation of the therapy was never conducted. Now, a group of neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center have replicated his work in a study to see if Charcot's observation holds true against modern scientific testing.

Results from the study indicate that while vibration therapy does significantly improve some symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the effect is due to placebo or other nonspecific factors, and not the vibration. The findings are published in the April issue of Journal of Parkinson's Disease.

"We attempted to mimic Charcot's protocol with modern equipment in order to confirm or refute an historical observation," explains lead investigator Christopher G. Goetz, MD, director of the Parkinson's disease and Movement Disorders Center at Rush. "Both the treated group and the control group improved similarly, suggesting other factors had an effect on Parkinson's disease motor function."

Charcot's patients told him that during long carriage rides or train journeys, uncomfortable or painful symptoms of Parkinson's disease seemed to disappear, and the relief lasted quite some time after the journey. He developed a chair that mimicked the continuous jerking of a carriage or train. Keep on reading...