More weekly exercise tied to slower Parkinson's decline, study finds
People with Parkinson's who stayed active more hours each week had slower declines in memory, thinking and movement, a new study in the journal Neurology found. The University of Cincinnati team followed 294 patients for up to seven years. The study shows a link, not proof, but it adds to the case for regular exercise.
Staying active may help people with Parkinson's disease hold on to both movement and thinking skills, a new study suggests.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati followed 294 people with mild to moderate Parkinson's. Their average age was 66. The study was published Oct. 7 in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Dong-Woo Ryu led the work, and Dr. Alberto Espay was the senior author.
Patients described their weekly activity at work, at home and in their free time. Moderate activity included brisk walking, light swimming, doubles tennis and chores like vacuuming. Vigorous activity included jogging, fast cycling and shoveling. The team tracked thinking skills for up to five years and movement for up to seven.
Patients were split into three groups: up to four hours of activity a week, four to eight hours, and more than eight. Each extra hour a week was linked to slightly slower declines in memory, thinking and movement, Fox News reported. That held after accounting for age, sex, education, weight and how severe the disease was.
People active four to eight hours a week declined more slowly in thinking skills than those under four hours. The most active group also had slower worsening of movement. How long people exercised mattered more than how hard, Medscape reported.
The differences were small in any one year. "These differences may become more meaningful over time," Ryu said.
The study has limits. It was observational, so it cannot prove exercise slows the disease. People reported their own activity, and nearly all were white and from one center. Espay told Medscape it is also possible that people whose disease moves more slowly are better able to stay active.
Outside experts still see value. Daniel Corcos of Northwestern University told Medscape the thinking result matters most to many patients. He warned against reading the study as a reason to skip hard workouts.
No drug has been proven to change the course of Parkinson's. Corcos's advice to patients: "be active and exercise, and find great care."
What we know: More weekly activity was linked to slower declines in thinking and movement over several years.
What we don't: Whether exercise itself causes the slower decline, which only a clinical trial can show.
Where outlets agree Medscape and Fox News both report that the study followed 294 people with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease for up to seven years.
Where they differ Medscape reports the greatest thinking and memory benefits were seen in patients active more than eight hours a week, while Fox News reports that activity beyond eight hours did not appear to add any benefit for memory and thinking.