Playing table tennis may be a good form of physical therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease, according to a small, preliminary study from Japan.

Parkinson’s patients who participated in a table tennis exercise program once a week for six months showed improvement in Parkinson’s motor symptoms, the findings show.

Scores rating speech, saliva and drooling, dressing, handwriting, doing hobbies and other activities, getting out of bed, a car, or a deep chair, and walking and balance were all significantly improved with table tennis ‘therapy’.

The researchers recruited 12 adults (mean age of 73) with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease for an average of seven years.