PARKINSON’S SYMPTOMS REDUCED BY HEAVY EXERCISE

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Jeffrey Newman

Forced stationary bicycle pedaling at high steady cadences has been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. In a paper presented in Paris on June 15, 2009, Dr. Jay Alberts of the Cleveland Clinic reported that Parkinson’s patients who were forced to pedal at a high steady rate (80-90 RPM) showed a 35% improvement in motor function. Brain scans showed an increased brain activation similar to treatment with the common Parkinson’s treatment Levodopa. Parkinson’s is a disease that causes tremors and other neurological problems and usually strikes people who are near 60 years old. Researchers are no clear on the mechanism of action but theorize that driving the central nervous system beyond its normal capacity can lead to biochemical changes and that this actually treats the disease rather than the symptoms. After taking a group bike ride across Iowa in 2003 on a tandem bike, he noted that his riding partner, who has Parkinson’s, stopped trembling enough to to write clearly. After a 50-mile ride in 2006 with a different partner, also with Parkinson’s he noted that this individual’s symptoms were virtually gone. His observations, when tested on Parkinson’s patients in a lab verified what he had seen on the rides. He believes that because Parkinson’s patients have a decreased neural drive, they may not be able to drive their neurological system sufficiently and forced exercise augments their central nervous syste, leading to biochemical changes.