Boxing program for Parkinson's patients

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Parkinson's disease patients are fighting back by taking boxing classes at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn.

This is the Boxing4PD program, or the STOPD program, an acronym for Support and Training Overcome Parkinson's Disease.

Dr. Roberta Marongiu, an assistant professor of neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine and a certified boxing instructor, founded the program with her husband Alex Montaldo, who is also a certified boxing coach with a master's degree in clinical psychology.

Frank Umbrino has been taking part in the program for about 6 months and has noticed a big improvement.

Gleason's owner Bruce Silverglade, who has seen thousands and thousands of fighters come through his gym, says the improvement he sees in those taking part in this program is much more than physical.