Can Parkinsons Be Reversed With Exercise

What Is The Best Exercise For Parkinsons Disease

There are multiple studies that recommend aerobic forms of exercise to treat Parkinsons disease at home. Examples of aerobic exercises include walking, running, cycling, and swimming. Its also important to consider a variety of activities to focus on motor skills, balance, strength, and other fitness components.

Depending on the progression of the disease, it may be best for someone with Parkinsons to work out with a partner or in an environment where someone could offer assistance. Join our WellFIT Program today for a safe and dependable environment for working out.

Quality Of Included Studies

The quality of the included randomized clinical trials was assessed by two reviewers independently with the risk of bias tool . Quality assessments were compared and discussed when necessary. In total, three studies were rated with the low risk of bias , 10 studies with some concerns about the risk of bias , and four studies with the high risk of bias . The risk of bias was mainly based on 1) unclear randomization procedure and concealment 2) lack of blinding of participants, therapists delivering the intervention and assessors 3) unclear or incomplete reporting of dropouts and 4) lack of a published prespecified statistical analysis plan. Blinding participants and therapists is often challenging when delivering an aerobic exercise intervention. Very few trials included a non-exercise group that received similar social interaction to blind the participants. In general, the newer studies were of higher quality than the older studies.

How I Reversed My Parkinsons Disease Symptoms

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Being diagnosed with Parkinsons disease is a life-altering event. Youre presented with all these drugs to take to help ward off the unpleasant symptoms but these drugs cause unwanted side effects.

Its not a no-win situation. You can manage and possibly reverse Parkinsons disease and live a full life.

Its time to find out what you can do to help your body deal with this disease naturally and effectively. Just keep reading.

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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.

Obstacles To Exercise And Limitations In Current Literature

Although there have been a number of studies showing the benefits of various forms of exercise, most do not address long-term follow-up and adherence to exercise regimens. Reported reasons for failure to participate in training sessions include scheduling issues, commuting challenges, medical comorbidities, hospitalizations, motor vehicle accidents, musculoskeletal injury, and family demands.28 Depression, difficulty initiating movement, and decreased motivation are nonmotor symptoms of PD that also impede patients from initiating exercise.

The long-term effects of exercise in patients with PD are limited, as most prospective interventional studies are short, ranging from 1 to 6 months.26 Most studies lack adequate control groups and have small sample sizes and poor follow-up regarding long-term outcomes and adherence to the studied interventions. Most of the studied interventions utilized some form of supervision. Practically, the cost of physical therapy and personal trainers may prohibit patients from participating in supervised exercise. Adherence to and benefits from self-initiated independent exercise that is typically encouraged by clinicians remains unknown.

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Randomized Controlled Trials Of Exercise And Pd

There have been many clinical trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses of exercise as a symptomatic therapy for PD motor and NMS . Nevertheless, the variability in study design, exercise mode and regimen, participant selection, and outcome measurement tool used in the RCTs makes comparison between the studies difficult, and results in the inability to define exercise prescription i.e., the formulation , dose , route , frequency , and duration . While not intended to exhaustively cover all exercise RCTs in PD, this section summarizes some of the more recent and rigorous interventional study data, highlighting RCTs that addressed the important question of exercise prescription in their design. This section aims to lay the groundwork and underline the need for more rigorously designed exercise RCTs, as will be discussed in our final section Designing clinical trials for exercise.

Finding May Renew Interest In Parkinson’s Drug

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive degenerative brain disorder. The disease attacks the cells that make the chemical dopamine. This leads to loss of muscle movement control and disability, as well as tremors that are associated with the disease. Other symptoms include slow movement, stiff muscles, aches, and problems with balance and coordination.

There is no cure for the disease. But medications, which boost dopamine levels, can help manage symptoms.

An improvement in symptoms was seen in a small study of people with Parkinson’s disease who received an injection of the drug into the affected brain region. There is a strong association between the level of disability from the disease and the severity of dopamine loss in the brain.

But a second study was halted after the drug’s maker Amgen withdrew GDNF in part due to safety reasons.

After a 62-year-old man who had participated in the first trial of GDNF died of an unrelated heart attack three months after the treatment stopped, researchers analyzed his brain and reported their findings in the current issue of Nature Medicine.

Because GDNF had been infused into only one side of the brain, researchers say they were able to assess the impact of treatment by comparing the two sides.

They say the findings may renew interest in GDNF as a potential therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

SOURCES: Love, S. Nature Medicine, July 2005 online edition vol11: pp 703-704. Press release, University of Bristol.

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A Study Of Moderate Exercise

The researchers examined 60 people aged 50-80 with Parkinsons disease to see what effects aerobic walking would have on the symptoms of the disease. They also wanted to find out if a program of moderate intensity exercise was beneficial, safe and tolerable.

Participants were asked to take part in 45-minute sessions of moderate intensity walking, three times a week for 6 months. The participants would wear heart rate monitors during this exercise, and would also take tests to measure their aerobic fitness, memory, mood, motor functions and thinking abilities.

The walking sessions met the definition of moderate intensity aerobic exercise, with the average walking speed approximately 2.9 miles per hour and with participants exercising at 47% of their heart rate reserve.

The research was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Charles W. and Harriet J. Seedorff Family and the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers found that the brisk walking sessions resulted in the following improvements:

• Motor function and mood: 15% improvement
• Attention/response control: 14% improvement
• Tiredness: 11% reduction
• Aerobic fitness and gait speed: 7% increase.

In the motor functioning tests, there was an average improvement of 2.8 points among the participants, a score that is deemed to be a clinically important difference.

What Helps Parkinsons Disease

There is no official cure for Parkinsons Disease.

As the disease progresses, patients often suffer from cognitive decline. Existing treatments can help ease symptoms, but over time, the drugs themselves can cause debilitating side effects.

Carbidopa is most commonly used for Parkinsons disease. However, there can be a number of negative side effects and problems associated with the administration of carbidopa during treatment of Parkinsons disease. This is thought to be because the administration of carbidopa will deplete the body of vitamin B-6, l-tyrosine, l-tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan , serotonin, and sulfur amino acids.

The properly balanced administration of Mucuna pruriens , and not carbidopa, in conjunction with 5-HTP, l-tyrosine, l-cysteine, and other supportive nutritional supplements can improve symptoms.

A research study, led by Dr. Marty Hinz and printed in the International Journal of Internal Medicine, was done with 254 Parkinsons patients who were newly diagnosed with no previous treatment and those who were diagnosed more than 20 years before and had tried many other medical treatment options. It showed that these supplements were helpful in the treatment of Parkinsons Disease.

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Exercise Helps Prevent Fight Parkinson’s Disease From The Harvard Health Letter

Parkinson’s is a brain disease that affects the body and how it moves. Early symptoms include tremors, a shuffling gait, and an overall slowing of physical movement. Yet exercise may be one of the best and most underutilized ways of combating the condition, according to the March 2012 .

Several prospective studies that followed tens of thousands of people for many years have shown a correlation between exercise earlier in life and a reduced chance of developing Parkinson’s later on. Exercising in your 30s and 40s decades before Parkinson’s typically occurs may reduce the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease by about 30%, notes the Health Letter. Some experts believe the exercise must be vigorous to make a difference. However, because this kind of research can’t prove cause and effect, there is the possibility of “reverse causation”: that is, exercise may not prevent Parkinson’s disease, but instead a very early “preclinical” form of the disease, without clear symptoms, may make people less willing or able to exercise in the first place.

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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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Why Do You Need To Exercise

Research shows that exercise is important for Parkinsons patients:

• It changes the course of the diagnosis and slows progression it can even reverse some symptoms.
• Exercise promotes neuroplasticity–the ability of the brain to form new connections–its like muscle memory that improves the skill with practice.
• Exercise increases secretions of trophic factors, chemicals that nourish brain cells.
• Exercise in midlife appears to reduce the later risk of getting Parkinsons.
• Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of physical and cognitive decline. Studies have shown that exercisers have an increased volume in certain areas of the brain, including the cerebellum, which is important for coordination, the cortex, which is essential for planning and executing movements, and the hippocampus, which is vital to memory.
• Aerobic exercises have shown improved brain connections on MRI and CT scans, increasing dopamine reception.

Exercise Is Both Treatment And Prevention

There is growing evidence that exercise, particularly vigorous exercise, may provide neuroprotective effects that can improve motor function, cognition, and quality of life in patients with PD. Exercise is now considered a treatment of PD with multiple benefits and few adverse effects.3,4

Animal and prospective cohort studies provide evidence that vigorous exercise may exert neuroprotective effects and decrease the risk of developing PD. There have been several cohort studies suggesting that regular exercise during the midlife period reduces the risk for PD years later. Meta-analysis of prospective studies affirms the diminished risk of developing PD following moderate to vigorous physical activities in preceding years.5-7 An analysis of 2 prospective cohort studies that included 48,574 men and 77,254 women showed a 60% reduced risk of PD in men who performed at least 10 months of strenuous exercise per year compared to those who regularly exercised less than 2 months per year.5 Similarly, the results of the prospective Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, which followed over 140,000 participants from 1992 and 2001, showed that those who underwent moderate to vigorous activity had 40% lower risk of PD than those who did not.6

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How Can Someone With Parkinsons Benefit From Exercise

The number one benefit of exercise for someone with a Parkinsons diagnosis is symptom management. Studies have shown that rather than being sedentary, engaging in any level of physical activity can be beneficial. Certain activities can address specific Parkinsons disease symptoms, like performing walking exercises to help with gait. It has also been shown that increased mobility can lead to improvements in cognition and memory and reduce the risk of falls. Symptoms that lead to a Parkinsons diagnosis typically appear when the dopamine-producing neurons in the brain begin to deteriorate.

We Dont Fully Understand The Causes

If we are to design a treatment that stops the condition at its source we really need to know why brain cell death happens in the first place.

In history, blind luck has led scientists to stumble upon effective treatments for conditions like smallpox and infections that are responsive to penicillin. But for a condition as complex as Parkinsons we should invest in research that fills in our incomplete view of what is happening inside the brain as it will give us the best chance of developing treatments that tackle the underlying causes of brain cell loss. Fortunately, there are some extremely talented and dedicated researchers, working with cutting-edge science and technology, trying to better understand Parkinsons and they are making new discoveries all the time.

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Walking May Improve Symptoms

Study author Dr. Ergun Y. Uc, of the University of Iowa in Iowa City and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center of Iowa City, says that results suggest walking may provide a safe and easily accessible way of improving the symptoms of Parkinsons disease and quality of life.

People with mild-moderate Parkinsons who do not have dementia and are able to walk independently without a cane or walker can safely follow the recommended exercise guidelines for healthy adults, which includes 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic activity, and experience benefits.

This study has its limitations. The range of participants in the research is a relatively small number, and the study did not run for a particularly long period of time. Without a control group to draw comparison with, it is unknown as to whether other factors could have influenced the findings.

The authors admit that further studies will be required in order to confirm these results. They state that future directions and challenges for this area of research include conducting controlled and longer-term studies, and investigating the effects of different types of personal training.

As a disease currently without a cure, it is vital that research continues in this field, with the hope of improving treatment methods for what is a difficult condition for both doctors and patients to grapple with.

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Some evidence suggests that, like levodopa, exercise may exert some of its effects by increasing dopamine. A recent study of 17 Parkinsons patients used positron emission tomography scans of the brain before and after stationary cycling. Results showed that habitual exercisers in this group eight patients who exercised more than three hours a week had higher dopamine levels in the dorsal striatum after stationary cycling than the nine others who were sedentary.

The eight exercisers also performed better on functional tests assessing motor symptoms, including the Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale part 3 which measures items such as gait and time to stand and in tests of non-motor symptoms such as apathy and depression.

Exercise might also go a step further than levodopa by increasing brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor , which promotes the survival of neurons that make dopamine the same neurons that degenerate in Parkinsons patients.

An analysis of 12 studies of BDNF levels in Parkinsons patients found lower levels of BDNF in patients serum than in healthy individuals .

Two of these studies showed that patients who completed exercise programs lasting four, eight, or 12 weeks increased both serum levels of BDNF and UPDRS motor scores.

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The Stages Of High Blood Pressure:

• Prehypertension: 120/80 to 139/89
• STAGE 1 Mild Hypertension: 140/90 to 159/99
• STAGE 2 Moderate Hypertension: 160/100 to 179/109
• STAGE 3 Severe Hypertension: 180/110 or higher

Prehypertension stage can often be reversed by simple lifestyle modifications such as lower sodium diet, increased potassium and magnesium intake and more exercise.

While stages 1, 2 and 3 of hypertension are more critical, they too can still be reversed. The key with these is a strict nutritional therapy approach. We use combinations of supplements and diet and lifestyle changes targeted at lowering these numbers over time.

Keep reading for more information.