According to the Parkinson’s Foundation exercise is one of the keys to managing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. It can help in reducing symptoms and help you stave off the diseases progress, too. We already know that exercise has an important role to play in our overall health so hopefully, it’s something that you already do.
Don’t worry, if it isn’t something that you’re used to it isn’t too late to start. You just need to work your way up to achieving 30-minute sessions by starting with increments of 10 minutes (or even 5 if you need to).
The earlier into your diagnosis you start exercising the better it will be for your long-term prognosis. The most popular or useful types of exercise for Parkinson’s Disease patients include resistance training, treadmills, yoga, aerobics, stretching, and intensive sports training. There are risks, of course, as with Parkinson’s comes a loss of coordination and a difficulty in balancing.
It’s important that you choose a buddy to train with if you’re doing an exercise that could lead to a fall. Of course, having a workout partner is also a great drive to stick to your plan and push yourself to achieve your goals. However, for lone workouts choose a non-intensive option that limits the risk of falls and thus potential injuries.
The Oregon Health and Sciences University completed a study (on Delaying Mobility Disability in People with Parkinson Disease Using a Sensorimotor Agility Exercise Program, King, et al) and found that patients responded well to an exercise regimen that included tai chi, Pilates, kayaking, lunges, and boxing.
The workout they designed included navigating hallways and managing turns at doorways as well as shuffling, skipping, and walking with high knee steps while touching hands to the knees as they came up. The researchers believe that this is effective because it works to improve the brain’s plasticity and protects against degeneration.
Parkinson’s disease causes your brain to forget that it needs to direct muscles on what to do as opposed to an actual brain-wasting disease. Therefore, if the brain is forgetting the thought is that you can train it to remember by partaking in a variety of exercise regimens that will provide you with a boost.
You are effectively retraining your brain to do its job and by doing exercises like those mentioned in the study above you are reminding your brain of its duty to send signals to your muscles.
Understand that you might not see improvement immediately, many of the studies on exercise and Parkinson’s have found that patients start to see real improvements after a 6-month period. However, as exercise also provides a serious boost to your mood it’s an important aspect of looking after your mental health, which is another important aspect of taking care of yourself when you have Parkinson’s Disease.
Before you settle on an exercise routine, you may want to consult the advice of WebMD and you may want to speak to your doctor about the right type of exercise as well as the intensity and amount of time you should spend doing it. The key, though, is always completing warm up and cool down exercises.
There are great non-impact exercises that can help you improve your balance and also mitigate your risk of falls – such as water aerobics and yoga – you should also consider spending time with a physical therapist.
Additionally, a 12-year study from Sweden found that finding time to exercise (moderately) for six hours every week could reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 43%. So, if you have a loved one you want to help encourage them to start exercising now to protect their future health.
