Posted on 03/05/2024 8:45:12 PM PST by ConservativeMind
High-intensity exercise induces brain-protective effects that have the potential to not just slow down but possibly reverse the neurodegeneration associated with Parkinson's disease, a new pilot study suggests.
Prior research has shown that many forms of exercise are linked to improved symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Now, a small proof-of-concept study involving 10 patients showed that high-intensity aerobic exercise preserved dopamine-producing neurons, the brain cells that are most vulnerable to destruction in patients with the disease.
In fact, after six months of exercise, the neurons actually had grown healthier and produced stronger dopamine signals. Dopamine is a chemical that helps brain cells communicate with one another.
Researchers recruited patients who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease for less than four years. At this early stage of their disease, the patients had not yet lost all of their dopamine-producing neurons.
After the trial period, the participants received their first round of brain scans. One was an MRI scan. The second scan was a PET scan.
Ten participants completed a six-month high-intensity exercise program through Hespeler's Beat Parkinson's Today program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the classes took place online. These classes involve High Intensity Functional Intervals [HIFI] designed to keep participants' heart rates elevated for the majority of the workout. After the six months, the researchers repeated the MRI and PET scans.
Following the six-month program, brain imaging showed a significant increase in both the neuromelanin and DAT signals in the substantia nigra. This suggests that high-intensity exercise not only slowed down the neurodegenerative process, but also helped the dopaminergic system grow healthier.
"Where we would have ordinarily expected to see a decline in the DAT and neuromelanin signals, we saw an increase," says Bart de Laat, Ph.D.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I would think that getting to 80-85% max hr would be difficult for Parkinson patients even early on in diagnosis.
There is a book called The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge that has a chapter on a guy who managed his Parkinson’s by deliberate, conscious control of his muscles.
As long as he focused on what he was doing, he was OK. When he got distracted, his symptoms came back. It certainly wasn’t a cure, but it enabled him to stay in much better shape and slow the progression of the disease some.
It’s a pretty interesting book, and we initially checked it out of the local library. We liked it so much, we bought a copy for ourselves.
Bfl
Yet once again, they can’t see the forest through the trees.
I swear that we’re being slow walked into a combination of Idiocracy and communism, having collectively lost all common sense (with obvious exceptions)...
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