Efficacy of dance for Parkinson's disease: a pooled analysis of 372 patients.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that presents with motor and nonmotor symptoms such as bradykinesia, resting tremor, postural instability, and cognitive and neuropsychiatric manifestations. Dance therapy or complex motor activity, besides pharmacological treatment, may have benefits in PD patients. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of dance in patients with PD. METHODS: We searched for clinical trials in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, and Cochrane till April 2020 using relevant keywords. Data were extracted and pooled as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) by Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: Fourteen randomized controlled trials with 372 patients were included. Dance showed a significant improvement over the control group in term of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale III (UPDRS III) after three (MD = - 4.49, 95% CI [- 6.78, - 2.21], p = 0.00001), six, (MD = - 5.96, 95% CI [- 8.89, - 3.02], p < 0.0001), and 12 months (MD = - 14.58, 95% CI [- 24.76, - 4.4], p = 0.005), and Mini-BES test after 12 months. Compared to exercise, dance showed a significant improvement in Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Mini-BES test. CONCLUSION: In comparison to other types of exercise or no activity, dance improves the symptoms and outcomes in patients with PD, especially motor symptoms. Dance also has positive effects on balance, functional mobility, and cognition.

Efficacy of dietary nitrate-rich beetroot juice supplementation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease causing airflow obstruction from the lungs reducing exercise tolerance. It is one of the leading causes of respiratory dysfunction worldwide. Nitric Oxide (NO) may have a significant role in this inflammatory reaction to improve exercise capacity. AIM: To evaluate the effect of dietary nitrate ingestion for COPD patients. METHODS: We searched Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases till August 2020 and updated the search in December 2020 using relevant keywords. All search results were screened for eligibility. We extracted the data from the included articles and pooled them as mean difference (MD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), using Review Manager software (ver. 5.4). RESULTS: A pooled analysis from eight included trials showed no significant difference between dietary nitrate-rich beetroot juice and placebo in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, 6-min walk test, cycling ergometry endurance time, and maximum rate of oxygen consumption (VO2). On the other hand, nitrate-rich beetroot juice significantly increased the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale more than the placebo (MD = -0.77; 95% CI [0.18, 1.37], P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: There is no significant effect of nitrate-rich beetroot juice on cardiovascular events as systolic, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate, or exercise performance as 6-min walk test, and cycling ergometry endurance time, or maximum rate of oxygen consumption (VO2). On the other hand, nitrate-rich beetroot juice improves the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale reflecting an increased exercise and physical activity level.