Why Exercise Can Help Delay The Onset Of Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease affects more than a million people in the United States alone, and it is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the country. It is also the most common of movement disorders, which also include neurological disorders like Dystonia, Huntingtons disease, Tourettes syndrome, and others. In fact, there are 60,000 new patients diagnosed with PD each year, and men are one and a half times more likely to develop the disease than women.
PD affects both motor and non-motor related faculties and could include symptoms such as tremors, limb rigidity, gait and balance difficulties, slowness of movement, depression, constipation, sleep issues, and cognitive impairment. Though these symptoms may not be readily apparent, they develop and progress as the disease spreads.
Experts remain unsure exactly what causes Parkinsons a combination of environmental and genetic factors seems to be at play but the good news is that there are ways to slow its onset and protect against its development. One helpful method is to maintain good health through a balanced diet high in fiber and antioxidant-rich foods . Other preventative measures include getting proper sleep, minimizing stress, limiting exposure to toxins, and avoiding head injuries.
Research shows that something else is also promising in preventing and delaying the onset of PD: regular exercise.
Neuroprotective Benefits Of Exercise
Exercise is an important part of healthy living for everyone, however, for people with Parkinsons disease exercise is not only healthy, but a vital component to maintaining balance, mobility and daily living activities, along with a potential neuroprotective effect. The Parkinsons Foundation Quality Improvement Initative studied exercise as part a Parkinson’s Outcomes Project study.;
Every Center of Excellence agrees that they believe exercise is important to good outcomes in PD, and data supports that.;Exercising enhances the sense of wellbeing, even across different disease stages and severities.;There is a growing consensus among researchers about the short and long-term benefits of exercise for people with PD.
Vigorous Exercise May Help Slow Parkinson’s Disease
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Dec. 11, 2017 — People with early stage Parkinson’s may be able to delay a worsening of the disease through a regimen of intense exercise, new research found.
“If you have Parkinson’s disease and you want to delay the progression of your symptoms, you should exercise three times a week with your heart rate between 80 to 85 percent maximum. It is that simple,” said study co-lead author Daniel Corcos. He’s professor of physical therapy and human movement sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
However, a more “moderate” exercise level — under the heart rate threshold outlined in the study — was not effective in slowing the disease, the researchers said.
As Corcos’ team explained, medications for Parkinson’s cause harmful side effects and their effectiveness declines over time, so new treatments are needed.
“The earlier in the disease you intervene , the more likely it is you can prevent the progression of the disease,” Corcos said in a university news release.
The exact magnitude of the effect remains unknown, however.
“We delayed worsening of symptoms for six months; whether we can prevent progression any longer than six months will require further study,” Corcos said.
But the findings do challenge the long-held belief that intense exercise is too physically stressful for people with Parkinson’s disease, he added.
The study was published Dec. 11 in the journal JAMA Neurology.
JAMA Neurology
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How Often Do Patients Need To Exercise To Benefit
Patients need to engage in at least 150 minutes of exercise each week to see an impact. In a paper published in JAMA Neurology, researchers were able to delay the progression of PD for six months through exercise alone, splitting exercise into three sessions per week, with each session increasing the participants heart rate to a maximum of 80-85%.
What Kinds Of Exercises Are Helpful For People With Pd
- Any exercise is beneficial. Our;tip sheet;and;podcast episode;are specifically helpful for people with PD.
- Any form of physical exercise you do without injuring yourself will provide benefit. Before beginning any new exercise, consult with your physician and, if available, a physical therapist that understands PD.
- Formal exercise programs balance several different aspects of fitness including strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, and endurance.
- Each of these areas provide a benefit to people with PD. Achieving a balance that works and engages you in a program you can start, maintain and expand upon is the goal.
Many programs target the rapid gains that can be achieved through a focus on improvements in functional capacity and mobility. These programs vary according to different aspects of physical training. Examples of exercise programs for people with PD include:
- Intensive sports training
- Treadmill training with body weight support
- Resistance training
- Alternative forms of exercise
- Home-based exercise
Working Out with a Partner
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How Can It Help In Parkinson’s
Nordic walking can improve fitness in the same way that running does, but it is much kinder to the ankles, knees and hips as it has a much lower impact on the joints. This can be particularly attractive if you experience joint pain.;
Perhaps the most important advantage of Nordic walking if you have Parkinsons is that is allows you to maintain and develop your ability to walk well by:
- enhancing balance and coordination
- reducing;slowness of movement ;
- reducing;freezingand gait problems
- improving mobility and creating more fluid movements
- correcting posture, particularly the stooped position associated with Parkinsons
- reinforcing the alternating movements of the arms and legs which can be lost in Parkinsons and so improving stability
- boosting independence and quality of life.
Various studies 1,2;have shown that people with Parkinsons who participate in Nordic walking programmes have improved functional independence and quality of life. It seems that mood also improves.
Once the basic steps have been learnt you can tailor your programme to suit how you feel at any particular time. Walking in a group also has social and psychological benefits.;
Carers and family members who walk with you may find that they too feel fitter and have fewer aches and pains.
References
How Patients Are Using Cycling To Slow Down Parkinson’s
Parkinsons symptoms include tremor, rigid muscles and problems with movement. While early treatment can delay the worst symptoms, people almost always get worse. About 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year and about a million Americans have Parkinsons now.
No medical therapy can cure Parkinsons and while exercise was always shown to help people feel better, it was not generally accepted as a true therapy until recently.
Now teams are trying to find out how much exercise helps and just which symptoms it affects. Doctors say theyd be thrilled just to slow the inevitable worsening of the disease and if they can freeze progression or reverse symptoms, that would be a home run.
Corcos and colleagues say the most intense exercise appears to have at least temporarily frozen symptoms in many of their volunteers.
“The earlier in the disease you intervene, the more likely it is you can prevent the progression of the disease,” Corcos said in a statement.
“We delayed worsening of symptoms for six months, he added. Whether we can prevent progression any longer than six months will require further study.”
Related: Walking Helps Parkinson’s
They worked with 128 patients with early stage Parkinsons. They randomly assigned them to either moderate exercise four days a week, intense exercise four days a week, or no additional exercise.
“This is not mild stretching. This is high intensity, Corcos said.
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The #1 Exercise Program That Fights Parkinsons
OhioHealth Delay the Disease is an evidenced-based fitness program designed to optimize physical function and help delay the progression of symptoms associated with Parkinsons disease. This wellness program is an important part of OhioHealths care continuum of neurologists and expert therapists working together to address the impairments associated with Parkinsons disease.
Exercise Can Stop Accumulation Of A Harmful Protein In The Brain
- Date:
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
- Summary:
- While vigorous exercise on a treadmill has been shown to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease in patients, the molecular reasons behind it have remained a mystery.
While vigorous exercise on a treadmill has been shown to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease in patients, the molecular reasons behind it have remained a mystery.
But now scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus may have an answer.
For the first time in a progressive, age-related mouse model of Parkinson’s, researchers have shown that exercise on a running wheel can stop the accumulation of the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein in brain cells.
The work, published Friday in the journal PLOS ONE, was done by Wenbo Zhou, PhD, research associate professor of medicine and Curt Freed, MD, professor of medicine and division head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at the CU School of Medicine.
The researchers said clumps of alpha-synuclein are believed to play a central role in the brain cell death associated with Parkinson’s disease. The mice in the study, like humans, started to get Parkinson’s symptoms in mid-life. At 12 months of age, running wheels were put in their cages.
“After three months,” Zhou said, “the running animals showed much better movement and cognitive function compared to control transgenic animals which had locked running wheels.”
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The Holy Grail Of Research
Slowing disease progression in PD has been described as the holy grail of research, the authors add.
Below are a few examples of the promising developments:
The authors conclude: There are currently no drugs that have been proven to slow down PD progression. Demonstrating that one or several of the candidate approaches is successful will lead to a frameshift in patient care.
Useful cooperation and coordination between investigators around the globe are significantly accelerating the path towards discovering agents that may slow, stop, or even reverse the progression of PD.
Exercise Slows Progression Of Parkinsons Disease
For people with Parkinsons Disease the things we do every day automatically or habitually such as swinging our arms when we walk, getting out of bed, and getting up off the floor become more difficult. The progressive neurological disorder can be a devastating and life-changing diagnosis. The good news is that evidence suggests that exercise slows the progression of Parkinsons Disease.
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What Is The Best Type Of Exercise For Parkinson’s
As Parkinson’s affects everyone differently, there is no ideal solution or exercise for everyone. So the exercise framework suggests a blend of styles and intensity that will help people with Parkinson’s do what they can at different times over the course of their condition.
Some people should be participating in more vigorous exercise at the gym, or out cycling and running with friends. Others are best doing chair-based exercises at home.
Exercise might be done individually or in a class, and can be targeted to specific symptoms, like balance, or at improving general health and wellbeing, like walking.;
So, to answer this question, we say that the best type of exercise should help people with Parkinson’s to feel and remain as fit and well as possible to manage everyday life.;
Exercise And The Rate Of Pd Motor And Non
Exercise may also be disease-modifying in fully manifest PD as well as in prodromal and preclinical stages. Longitudinal cohort studies have demonstrated that exercise can be a predictor of slower progression of both motor and non-motor symptoms. In the population-based Parkinsons Environment and Gene study in central California, Paul et al. evaluated the association between physical activity and progression of both motor and non-motor symptoms in 244 subjects with early PD . They analyzed the subjects history of ever having participated in competitive sports and their overall physical activity level, in metabolic-equivalent hours per week , across 4 age periods of adulthood. Over 5.3 years of follow-up they observed that those with a history of competitive sports were less likely to suffer a 4-point decline on the Mini-Mental State Exam , or convert to stage 3 on the Hoehn and Yahr scale of motor disability . There was also a trend between higher MET-h/week and slower progression on MMSE and conversion to Hoehn and Yahr stage 3, with HR 0.71 , and 0.73 , respectively, .
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How Can I Benefit From Exercise
Symptom Management
Research has shown that exercise can improve gait, balance, tremor, flexibility, grip strength and motor coordination.;Exercise such as treadmill training and biking have all been shown to benefit, along with Tai Chi and;yoga. So far, studies have shown:
- Engaging in any level of physical activity is beneficial, rather than being sedentary this is associated with improved motor symptoms.
- For people with mild to moderate PD, targeted exercises can address specific symptoms for example: aerobic exercise improves fitness, walking exercises assist in gait, resistance training strengthens muscles. One study showed that twice-a-week tango dancing classes helped people with PD improve motor symptoms, balance and walking speed.
- Exercise may also improve cognition, depression and fatigue, but the research is still ongoing in these areas.
One study showed that people with PD who exercised regularly for 2.5 hours a week had a smaller decline in mobility and quality of life over two years. Research is ongoing to discover therapies that will change the course of the disease.
Neurologists within the Parkinsons Foundation Center of Excellence network recommend a regimented exercise program to their patients and also to people who are worried about getting PD due to family connection.
What Is Parkinsons Disease
First described by British surgeon, James Parkinson in 1817, Parkinsons Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that results from the death of dopamine cells in the basal ganglia of the brain.; The diagnosis requires a neurologist to identify the cardinal motor symptoms:
- Bradykinesia is defined as the slowness of movement and is the most highly correlated symptom with dopamine. It is a force-regulation problem where the brain is not driving enough force for the needs of the task.
- Rigidity is the co-contraction of muscle groups resulting in tightness and stiffness in the joints, limiting ones balance and mobility.
- A tremor, defined as an involuntary quivering movement or shake, may be present at rest.
- An individual may have postural instability, or balance problems that help to confirm the diagnosis.
The basal ganglia are a group of neurons in the brain that are responsible for everyday habitual and automatic movements related to our walking, postural control, gesturing, breathing and eye movements.
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Exercise And The Risk Of Developing Pd
Most prospective cohort studies have found an inverse relationship or trend between physical activity and the subsequent development of PD , with a pooled hazard ratio of 0.66 for developing PD when comparing the highest level of physical activity with the lowest level . The first published study linking prior physical activity to PD was by who carried out a case-control study in 50,002 male students attending the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard College between the years 1916 and 1950. Their study observed lower odds of developing PD if the student played varsity sports or underwent regular exercise in college with OR of 0.64 and 0.83, respectively. They also observed that in adulthood, those subjects who engaged in moderate exercise or heavy sports had lower odds of developing PD, although neither of these associations achieved statistical significance .
Other epidemiological studies that support the inverse relationship between physical activity and developing PD include studies from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study cohort , the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort ; the Finnish Mobile Clinic Health Examination Survey , a populated-based case-control study in California , and the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe .
Regular Exercise May Slow The Progression Of Parkinsons Disease
Parkinsons disease is a progressive neurological condition that can cause tremors, muscle rigidity and balance and mobility issues all symptoms that appear to be at odds with maintaining a regular exercise program. But new research shows those diagnosed with Parkinsons disease should embrace exercise and the more vigorous their workouts, the better.
A 2017 study published in JAMA Neurology followed 128 participants between the ages of 40 and 80 who were newly diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and not taking any medication to manage their symptoms. After participating in a workout program three times per week for six months, data found slower disease progression among those who exercised at high intensity defined as 8085% of maximum heart rate than those who engaged in moderate-intensity exercise or didnt exercise at all.
Everyone benefits from endurance exercise there is now evidence that vigorous exercise slows down the rate at which Parkinsons disease progresses, says Daniel M. Corcos, PhD, professor of physical therapy and human movement sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
THE BRAIN-EXERCISE CONNECTION
Although the researchers didnt explore the reasons exercise slowed disease progression, it could be linked to increased blood flow to the brain, according to James Beck, PhD, chief science officer at the Parkinsons Foundation.
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What Kind Of Exercise Can I Do If I Have Trouble Standing Or Walking
Even with advanced Parkinsons symptoms, you can still reap the benefits of some activities. If you have trouble walking or balancing, hold a bar or rail to exercise and stretch. If standing or getting up is tough, exercise and stretch in a chair or bed. Physical exercise performed in a seated position, such as biking on a recumbent bike can allow you to exert yourself in a safe manner.
Facial exercises may help combat difficulties speaking or swallowing:
- Chew your food longer and more vigorously.
- Exaggerate your face and lip movements when you speak.
- Make faces in the mirror.
- Sing or read out loud.
Mental exercises give your brain a workout and can improve memory. For example:
- Name as many animals as you can in 1 minute.
- Play brain games and do puzzles.
- Solve math problems in your head.
You can also add activity in small bits throughout your day:
- Park further away from stores so you walk longer distances.
- Stretch or do leg exercises while watching TV.
- Swing your arms more when you walk, and take long strides.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.