Patients with Parkinson’s disease may be benefited by 2.5 hours of exercise every week, according to a new study. The American study suggests that exercising for at least 2.5 hours weekly may help Parkinson’s patients maintain physical health and quality of life.
Parkinson’s is a progressive degenerative disease of the central nervous system that mainly affects movement. The condition causes tremors, stiffness of the trunk and limbs, lack of balance and coordination, and mobility deterioration.
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About one million Americans are thought to have Parkinson's, and about 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with the condition each year. Most patients are aged over 50 but younger people can be affected as well.
Past studies have suggested that exercise may benefit patients with Parkinson's. One study found that patients with early Parkinson's who exercised 40 to 60 minutes three times a week experienced improved mobility and balance over 6 months, resulting in a reduction in falls.
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For this study, lead researcher Miriam R. Rafferty, Ph.D., of the Center for Education in Health Sciences at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues sought to determine how regular exercise might help health-related quality of life (HRQL), and mobility for Parkinson’s patients over a 2-year period.
They analyzed more than 3,400 patients with Parkinson’s disease. The participants were a part of the National Parkinson Foundation Quality Improvement Initiative (NPF-QII), which gathers data on clinical care and outcomes for Parkinson's patients at 21 places in North America, the Netherlands, and Israel.
Over 2 years, the participants visited the clinic at least three times. During these visits, researchers collected data on the patients’ exercise duration each week, and their functional mobility and HRQL.
The team used Timed Up and Go (TUG) test to assess the participants’ mobility. During the test patients were required to stand up from a seated position, walk about 3 meters, turn around, and then sit back down. Patients self-reported HRQL through The Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39).
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The researchers found that those who took part in a minimum of 2.5 hours of physical exercise a week experienced much slower declines in HRQL and mobility over 2 years, compared with patients who exercised less than 2.5 hours weekly.
"The most important part of the study is that it suggests that people who are not currently achieving recommended levels of exercise could start to exercise today to lessen the declines in quality of life and mobility that can occur with this progressive disease," says Rafferty.
The team also found that patients in the advanced stages of Parkinson's saw an improvement in both HRQL and mobility by increasing their physical activity by 30 minutes each week.
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The team says their findings have far-reaching implications for making Parkinson’s patients more physically active. They note that such patients may experience more severe impairments in their mobility, making participation in current exercise programs challenging.
The study was not intended to pinpoint what types of exercise are best for patients with Parkinson's, but the authors say that performing any type of physical activity is better than being sedentary.
"People with [Parkinson's disease] should feel empowered to find the type of exercise they enjoy, even those with more advanced symptoms," concludes Dr. Rafferty.
Findings of the study were published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.
