Nine out of 10 Parkinson’s patients risk losing their voice, but a new United Kingdom study offers hope. Researchers divided participants into three groups: people who received LSVT LOUD treatment, those who underwent conventional UK National Health Service (NHS) therapy, and those who received no treatment. (LSVT LOUD, developed in the United States in the late 1980s, uses LSVT LOUD voice exercises to help patients project their voices at a more normal volume.
) LSVT LOUD training comprised 16 remote sessions over four weeks, including home-based practice. “This structure ensures that patients receive consistent and focused practice, which is essential for creating lasting changes,” Dr. Jonathan J.
Rasouli, a neurosurgeon at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital in New York, told The Epoch Times. This method is highly regarded in Parkinson’s speech therapy, he added. In contrast, NHS therapy provided speech and language therapy with local therapists, averaging one session every other week over 11 weeks.
The LSVT LOUD group’s score decreased by eight points, while the NHS treatment and no treatment groups both showed a 1.7-point reduction. “NHS speech and language therapy showed no evidence of benefit compared with no speech and language therapy,” the study authors wrote.
LSVT LOUD therapy showed “significant benefits” in emotional and functional areas, while NHS therapy showed no measurable advantage over no treatment at all. Voice changes in Parkinson.