2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

garden
variety
h e a l t h
SMASH
David Falk of
Cresskill has been
playing the game
with PingPongParkinson
for the last
several months.
Playing may actually
halt the progression
of the disease.
BOUNCING BACK
Ping-Pong may help those who are suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
PHOTOGRAPH: JOHN EMERSON
It’s Tuesday night at the Ready
to Golf sports center in River
Edge, and in the table-tennis
room, the thump of piped-in
disco mingles with the rhythmic
pops of little plastic balls, creating
a din that’s surprisingly cheerful. It’s
certainly no deterrent to the dozen
or so men and women who’ve come
together this evening to have some fun
and hone their Ping-Pong chops. The
folks with the blue name tags have also
come to face down a common adversary:
Parkinson’s disease.
Watching the players, though,
you’d be hard pressed to distinguish
between those with Parkinson’s and
those without, except for their name
tags (volunteers wear red). There’s
something about the game that tames
the uncontrollable body movements
that characterize the disease and helps
clear the mental fog that sometimes
accompanies it.
In fact, Ping-Pong does more than
offer a temporary reprieve from symptoms;
it can apparently actually halt
the progression of the disease. That,
essentially, is the idea behind Ping-
PongParkinson, a nonprofit founded in
SEPTEMBER 2022 NEW JERSEY MONTHLY 15