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Games console 'could help Parkinson's sufferers'

Wednesday 23rd September 2009

The Nintendo Wii is proving to be an important occupational therapy tool for treating sufferers of Parkinson's disease.

At least this is the suggestion of a new article in the Times, which quoted scientific research and several experts indicating that the computer games console can have physical and mental benefits.

Tina Walker, an occupational therapist who was diagnosed with Parkinson's six years ago, told the publication her "fitness and coordination have definitely improved" since she started playing Wii Sports and she knows many other sufferers who now own the game.

And a recent study by researchers at the Medical College of Georgia in the US showed that the console can have a significant impact on reducing cases of depression, a condition afflicting approximately half of people with the disease.

According to the NHS, around 120,000 individuals in the UK are affected by Parkinson's, with men slightly more likely to develop it than women.

Written by James Puckle