Regular and long-term engagement in aerobic exercise protocols hold promise in slowing the progression of Parkinson's disease. It is recommended that people with PD participate in a minimum of 90–150 min of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise per week.
Regular program attendance and pedalling at a relatively high cadence may be key variables in mitigating Parkinson's disease symptoms.
The aim of the project describe by authors of a new article, was to monitor exercise behaviour and evaluate its effect on disease progression over a 6 month period in 50 people with Parkinson disease. It was implemented at five community exercise facilities (two in northern Washington and three in central Colorado) from 2019–2020.
The Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's disease Rating Scale Motor III and other motor and non-motor outcomes were gathered at enrollment and following 6 months of exercise. Attendance, heart rate, and cadence data were collected for each exercise session.
On average, people with Parkinson disease attended nearly two-third of the offered PFP classes. The MDS-UPDRS III significantly decreased over the 6-month exercise period and immediate recall significantly improved.
Other motor and non-motor metrics did not exhibit significant improvement. Participants who attended most available classes experienced the greatest improvement in MDS-UPDRS III scores.
Consistent attendance and pedalling at a relatively high cadence may be key variables to Parkinson disease symptom mitigation. Improvement in clinical ratings coupled with lack of motor and non-motor symptom progression over 6 months provides rationale for further investigation of the real-world, disease-modifying potential of aerobic exercise for people with Parkinson disease.