- Researchers are reporting that intensive exercise can help ease symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
- Experts say the benefits are apparent in both the early and later stages of disease.
- They add that exercise helps people with Parkinson’s disease by improving brain function, balance, and mobility.
Intensive exercise might slow the course of Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published today in the journal Science Advances.
In their research involving laboratory rats, neuroscientists from the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University, Rome Campus, and A. Gemelli IRCCS Polyclinic Foundation identified a new mechanism responsible for the positive effects of exercise on brain plasticity.
The scientists reported that activities performed in the early stages of the disease can induce beneficial effects on movement control – even after discontinuing the exercise routine.
They said they believe that humans could potentially enjoy the same benefits.
“While the benefits of exercise in Parkinson’s disease are well established, this important study suggests that exercise may be effective in delaying this progression, diminishing the aggregates of the abnormal protein alpha-synuclein in the brain,” said Dr. Alessandro DiRocco, a neurologist at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York
“While there [currently] are a number of medications and treatments that can alleviate the symptoms of the disease, there is no known treatment to delay the inevitable progression of the disease,” DiRocco told Medical News Today. “Exercise can therefore have an especially important role in the overall treatment of Parkinson’s disease.”
Experts say exercise plays a vital part in maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle. They also believe it can improve specific symptoms of some diseases, such as Parkinson’s.
Early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include tremors, a shuffling gait, and an overall slowing of physical movement. Exercise might be one of the best ways of…
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