'Astronaut Therapy' Aids Hospital Patients' Balance Problems

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6:39pm (UK) http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3597135

'Astronaut Therapy' Aids Hospital Patients' Balance Problems

By von Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News

Training given to fighter pilots and astronauts has been adapted to

treat patients with balance problems, it was revealed today.

“Simulator therapy” sessions introduced by doctors in London are said to

have led to a 50% improvement in the frequency and intensity of

dizziness.

The sessions combine rotating disk, spinning chair and video-based

exercises that create the illusion of movement.

The experimental treatment strengthens the visual input to the brain,

improving balance and reducing dizziness and vertigo.

Study leader Professor Adolfo Bronstein, head of the department of

neuro-otology at Charing Cross Hospital, said: “Input from your muscles

and joints, your inner ear and your eyes make up the triad of sensory

information your body needs to stay balanced.

“In patients with inner ear damage, we thought that by strengthening the

other inputs this would lead to a reduction in dizziness.

“We are very excited that the results of this trial bear this out, and

that these simulator exercises, when combined with physiotherapy,

strengthen the sensory input the brain receives which allows correct

balance to be maintained.”

Forty patients with chronic inner ear symptoms lasting many years were

recruited for the study, reported today in the Journal of Neurology.

All received standard physiotherapy, with half additionally receiving

visual simulation exercises twice weekly for two months.

“We found that the frequency and intensity of dizzy spells was reduced,

along with an improvement in balance and co-ordination in all patients,

more so in the half that received the visual simulations,” said

Professor Bronstein.

“These exercises, which are used to train pilots to avoid motion

sickness, are simple to set up so we are confident that they will soon

become part of the standard treatment programme for chronic dizziness.”

The inner ear, or vestibular system, is a complex arrangement of

fluid-filled chambers that acts like a mercury tilt-switch, relaying

information on balance to the brain.

When disrupted by a disease such as a cold or flu, or by head injury,

the signals can become confused, resulting in dizziness, vertigo and

feelings of nausea.

More than a third of the population may experience a vestibular disorder

at some point.

But chronic dizziness lasting many years can have a hugely detrimental

effect on quality of life, leaving patients anxious and depressed.

“As well as an improvement in dizziness symptoms and balance, an

encouraging finding from this study is that patients’ anxiety and

depression was reduced by over a third,” said Professor Bronstein.

“By strengthening visual movement, an often neglected aspect of the

balance system, we can make a real difference to these patients’ quality

of life.”