How Vigorous Exercise Could Help Protect Your Brain from Parkinson’s Disease

16 Aug How Vigorous Exercise Could Help Protect Your Brain from Parkinson’s Disease

How Vigorous Exercise Could Help Protect Your Brain from Parkinson’s Disease¹

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a tough journey, affecting both motor (movement) and non-motor (thinking) abilities. While researchers have been looking for medicines to slow the progression PD, some exciting new studies show that vigorous exercise might be a key player in this fight. Let’s explore how getting active could help those living with PD.

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

PD is a disorder that affects how your brain controls movement. People with PD often experience tremors, stiffness, and slow movements. As the disease progresses, it can also affect memory and thinking skills. Currently, treatments mainly focus on managing symptoms most often via prescription medication, but there’s no cure to stop the disease in its tracks.

The Power of Vigorous Exercise

Recent studies suggest that vigorous exercise could do more than just keep you fit. It might actually help protect your brain from PD. Here’s how:

Shielding Your Brain:

• Animal studies have found that exercise can protect the brain from damage similar to PD. This protection might come from exercise boosting substances like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps keep brain cells healthy.

Boosting Brain Power:

• Exercise doesn’t just help your body; it helps your brain too. People with PD who exercise regularly often have better memory and thinking skills. This is likely because exercise increases levels of BDNF, a key player in brain health.

Lowering Your Risk:

• If you stay active in your middle years, you might reduce your risk of getting PD later on. Studies show that people who exercise vigorously in their 40s and 50s are less likely to develop PD.

Slowing the Disease:

• While more research is needed, there are hints that exercise could slow the progression of PD. Patients who stay fit tend to do better in terms of movement and thinking skills.

How to Make Exercise Part of Your PD Management

If you or a loved one has PD, adding exercise to your routine could make a BIG difference. At Trio Rehabilitation & Wellness Solutions, we have created RISE, a wellness program for people with PD and other movement disorders. This program will incorporate vigorous exercise as well as encourage appropriate medication management. The RISE program has taken the following recommendations from research into account:

1. Movement
   • Aim for regular, vigorous exercise. This could be walking, jogging, swimming, or playing a sport like tennis. Try to get at least 20-30 minutes of activity several times a week.

2. Structured Fitness Plans:
   • Work with a physical or occupational therapy practitioner to create a fitness plan tailored to your needs. This plan should focus on overall fitness, not just balance and gait training!

3. Medications Matter:
   • Make sure your medications are optimized so you can exercise effectively. The right balance of medication will help you stay motivated and capable of sticking to your exercise routine.

The Need for More Research

While these findings are promising, we need more research to fully understand how exercise affects PD. Future studies will help us learn more about how much and what types of exercise are most beneficial, but to start RISE will incorporate strength training², dual-task training³, and high intensity functional training⁴ into classes. Each of these interventions have been studied and have promising results!

Conclusion

Exercise is emerging as a potential game-changer in the fight against Parkinson’s Disease and other movement disorders. By staying active, you might not only improve your overall health but also protect your brain and slow down the progression of PD. Embrace exercise as a vital part of your journey with PD, and you might find it makes a significant difference in your life.

Making exercise a regular part of your routine could lead to better health and improved quality of life. It’s a simple, powerful way to take control and possibly slow down Parkinson’s Disease. Consider joining RISE today and let the emotional, physical, and spiritual part of you work on your PD!

Sources:

1. Ahlskog, J.E. Does Vigorous Exercise have a neuroprotective effect on Parkinson’s disease? 2011 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136051/ doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e318225ab66

2. Vieira de Moraes Filho, A., Chaves, S. N., Martins, W. R., Tolentino, G. P., de Cássia Pereira Pinto Homem, R., Landim de Farias, G., … Jacó de Oliveira, R. (2020). Progressive Resistance Training Improves Bradykinesia, Motor Symptoms and Functional Performance in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 15, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S231359

3. Johansson, H., Folkerts, AK., Hammarström, I. et al. Effects of motor–cognitive training on dual-task performance in people with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Neurol 270, 2890–2907 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-023-11610-8

4. de Laat, B., Hoye, J., Stanley, G., Hespeler, M., Ligi, J., Mohan, V., Wooten, D. W., Zhang, X., Nguyen, T. D., Key, J., Colonna, G., Huang, Y., Nabulsi, N., Patel, A., Matuskey, D., Morris, E. D., & Tinaz, S. (2024). Intense exercise increases dopamine transporter and neuromelanin concentrations in the substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. NPJ Parkinson’s disease, 10(1), 34. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-024-00641-1