How playing China’s favourite sport, table tennis, can help Parkinson’s sufferers fight the disease, and help all elderly keep fit
- Playing table tennis has recently been shown to help slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease
- It is a national sport in China, and it could help millions of elderly keep fit and reduce their symptoms, research shows
Whether played for fun or in serious competition, table tennis is popular with many people around the globe. In Victorian England, it was a fun after-dinner activity for the upper classes, and today in China, table tennis is the national sport played by millions.
The benefits of the low-impact sport, such as improved hand-eye coordination and concentration, are well known, but new research shows table tennis (also called ping-pong) can also slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure.
More than 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s disease, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.
In China it is thought to affect at least 1.7 million people. Scientists estimate this will rise to almost five million by 2030, by which time China will account for almost half of the world Parkinson’s disease population.
The study, conducted by researchers at Japan’s Fukuoka University, found that playing table tennis can help reduce tremors, limb rigidity, and slowness of movement, and improve balance.