Here at Parkinson’s Wellness Foundation, we know firsthand that fitness is a crucial part of Parkinson’s disease management, but a small pilot study has recently found that high-intensity exercise may even reverse neurodegeneration.
For the study, Yale University researchers recruited patients with mild and early Parkinson’s. After a two-week trial period, patients had their first round of brain scans – one MRI scan and one PET scan.
Ten participants then completed six months of a high-intensity exercise program, wearing heart-rate monitors and Fitbits. The target heart rate, defined as 80% of each person’s maximum heart rate, was reached in about two-thirds of all classes.
After the program’s end, the MRI and PET scans were repeated. The imaging showed a positive increase in both the neuromelanin and DAT signals in the brain’s substantia nigra. As a news article from Yale School of Medicine states, these results suggest that “high-intensity exercise not only slowed down the neurodegenerative process, but also helped the dopaminergic system grow healthier.”
In their conclusion, the study’s authors write that their observations could “have far-reaching implications for neuroprotective effects of exercise in PD,” but they also caution that “further work is needed to validate them and elucidate the underlying mechanisms.”
So, while we wait for research to continue and confirm these findings, PWF will do what we do best: offer classes to keep you moving.
You can read the full study here.
