What are the benefits of Ballroom Dancing?

September 13th, 2011 admin

Dancing is a social activity which provides increased self-confidence and social skills. Physical activity reduces stress and tension, regular dancing gives an overall sense of well-being. The following are medical quotes and studies, documenting the tangible benefits of dancing:

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recognizes the benefits of dance in lowering coronary heart disease risk, decreasing blood pressure, and managing weight. Another plus of dancing is that the weight bearing movements of your steps can strengthen the bones of your legs and hips, important for maintaining bone health as your age. As a result, dancing may be used as part of a rehabilitation program, of course with appropriate supervision.

The New England Journal of Medicine: Joe Verghese, MD, assistant neurology professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and colleagues studied 469 people who were at least 75 years old. At the study’s start, they answered surveys about mental and physical activities, like doing crossword puzzles or dancing. Back then, none had Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Five years later, frequent dancers had a reduced risk of dementia compared with those who rarely or never danced. Of 11 physical activities, only dancing was tied with a lower dementia risk. Most dancers did ballroom dancing.

The Dancing Brain

How might ballroom dancing help the brain? Verghese outlines three possibilities:

Increased blood flow to the brain from the physical exercise
Less stress, depression, and loneliness from dancing’s social aspect
Mental challenges (memorizing steps, working with your partner)

**The Journal of Medicine even found, as dancing requires memorizing steps and working with a partner, both aspects provide mental challenges that are crucial for brain health.

The Journal Heart & Lung found that people who listened to music while they exercised performed more than twice as well on a verbal fluency test than people who listened to no music. This study’s lead author, Charles Emery, “…Listening to music may influence cognitive function through different pathways in the brain. The combination of music and exercise may stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while helping to organize cognitive output.”