Ran across this news article. Thought you might like to see it. Have any of you tried a metronome? How did it work? I love reading your letters on the list! It means a lot to me to be a part of this community! [log in to unmask] (Joan Dykstra, PD for 7 years, 55, Eldepryl) " LONDON, May 10 (Reuter) - Metronomes can help people with Parkinson's disease walk better, German researchers reported on Friday. Wolfgang Enzensberger and Peter Fischer of the Goethe University Hospital in Frankfurt studied 22 patients with Parkinson's, which causes shaky muscles. It affects about one percent of all people over 60 and can make it hard for them to walk. ``Patients were tested under conditions of free walk; metronome stimulation (rate 96 beats per minute); traditional march music; modern march music (Prokofiev); and tactile stimulation (tapping rhythmically on the patient's shoulder),'' the researchers wrote in a letter to the Lancet medical journal. The metronome helped patients take longer, less faltering steps. Musical stimulation was less helpful and tapping the patients on the shoulder made them worse. The researchers said the patients liked the metronome. ``Several said that they would like to use a portable electronic metronome in their daily life for critical situations, such as crossing a road,'' they concluded. "