Experts like Dr. Heidi Crayton from the Multiple Sclerosis Center recommend physical activity among people with MS. Their findings in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal boiled down to a straightforward recommendation: “people with Multiple Sclerosis should move no matter where they are in the course of the disease.”
Three years ago, Ted was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After his diagnosis, he began taking table tennis lessons from Khaleel Asgarali at WDCTT, which he credits with helping improve his skills, mobility, balance, and coordination. He’s also found a supportive community that he looks forward to seeing every lesson.
“In February 2020, researchers at Fukuoka University, Japan, found playing table tennis may help alleviate motor symptoms in Parkinson’s.
12 people with Parkinson’s with an average age of 73 played a five-hour session of table tennis every week for a period of six months. The sessions were developed specifically for people with the condition by experienced table tennis players from the university’s department of sports science. The participants were evaluated after three months and at the end of the study. At both evaluations, participants had reduced symptoms – showing improvement in speech, handwriting, walking and hand tremors.”
Study author Ken-ichi Inoue, MD, of Fukuoka University said: “While this study is small, the results are encouraging because they show ping pong, a relatively inexpensive form of therapy, may improve some symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. A much larger study is now being planned to confirm these findings.”
Article by: Table Tennis England
Table tennis has the potential to be helpful for eldery people with dementia because it combines physical activity, cognition stimulus and social activity.
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Khaleel Asgarali started playing table tennis at 7 years old. His father was a former national team member from Trinidad and Tobago and was Khaleel’s first coach. Moving to the top of the junior ranks in the USA, Khaleel returned to his home country of Trinidad and Tobago to win both junior and men singles national championship titles in 2003 and 2005. He has played professionally in leagues in England, Sweden and Germany and trained all over the world. He is still currently a professional player in the German League and a professional coach in the capital area.
