Ten thousand steps and more. Studies on the subject are multiplying: physical activity has a beneficial effect on Parkinson’s disease. “Exercise seems to help, perhaps even improve symptoms and have a neuroprotective effect, the latter not being shown with medications », explains Mathieu Anheim, professor of neurology at the University Hospital of Strasbourg. This neurodegenerative pathology, which affects dopaminergic neurons – involved in movement control – affects around 200,000 people in France. Its effects vary greatly from one patient to another: stiffness, slowness of movement, tremors at rest, balance problems… and often great fatigue. Other symptoms such as depression, anxiety, sleep disorders can affect patients, with repercussions on activities of daily living. If the disease does not heal, it can be relieved with medication and with a better lifestyle, including physical activity.
This even acts as a preventive measure, as evidenced once again by a French study published on Wednesday May 17 in Neurology. Led by the team of researcher Alexis Elbaz (Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, Inserm, Paris-Saclay, Versailles-Saint-Quentin University), this work was carried out using data from the French cohort E3N, made up of 100,000 women, with a follow-up of up to twenty-nine years. The researchers show that the most active women have a 25% reduced risk of developing the disease compared to the least active. But it is especially among people who already have Parkinson’s that the effects of physical activity are the most documented.
Cycling, running, swimming, etc. “Moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic exercise has positive effects on motor symptoms and also on disease progression”, according to a study published on May 9 in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, conducted by the team of Thomas H. Oosterhof (Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands). For the record, a moderate intensity is between 60% and 80% of the maximum heart rate; high, between 80% and 85%.
A randomized clinical trial, conducted by a team of Dutch doctors, published in September 2019 in The Lancet Neurologydemonstrated that aerobic exercise attenuates the progression of motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease, in particular postural and gait disorders.
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