Equistasi may improve limb and gait ataxia – Friedreich Ataxia News Copy

Equistasi may improve limb and gait ataxia – a loss of control of voluntary muscular movement – in patients with hereditary cerebellar ataxia, such as Friedreich’s ataxia, although more studies are necessary to confirm these findings.

A study enrolled 11 adults with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) or Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), who were asked to wear Equistasi for three weeks. Clinical assessment was performed at study’s start, after device use (T1), and three weeks after stopping the use of the device (T2).

Results showed that, between the start of the study and T1, patients presented significant improvements in SARA, 9HPT dominant hand, PATA test and 6MWT. They also improved in several gait measurement parameters. Despite a general worsening trend of all these parameters after device discontinuation, most parameters that had improved at T1 were not significantly different at T2.

Read the full article at Friedreich Ataxia News

Read the study, “A Wearable Proprioceptive Stabilizer For Rehabilitation Of Limb And Gait Ataxia In Hereditary Cerebellar Ataxias: A Pilot Open-Labeled Study,” published in the journal Neurological Sciences.