'Medium' daily exercise tied to lower risk of Parkinson's disease

Date: Nov-19-2014 A new study that followed thousands of people for 12 years

found a medium amount of daily physical activity is tied to a lower

risk of Parkinson's disease.

Spending more than 6 hours a day doing medium physical activity is linked to a 43% lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to the latest study.

Researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm report

their findings in Brain: A Journal of Neurology. Study leader

Dr. Karin Wirdefeldt, a researcher in medical epidemiology,

biostatistics and clinical neuroscience, explains the strengths of

their study:

"This was a prospective study including both males and females, and

all information on physical activity was assessed before the disease

occurrence, making recall bias and reverse causation less likely."

"Another major strength of this study is that we considered the

entire spectrum of daily energy output, rather than purely focusing on

dedicated exercising," she adds. "Further, we conducted a rich set of

sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our findings."

A prospective study is one that follows a group of individuals over

a period and looks for outcomes, such as the development of a

disease.

Dr. Wirdefeldt and colleagues analyzed comprehensive information on

43,000 men and women collected over 12 years as they participated in

the Swedish National March Cohort. Through extensive questionnaires, the

participants gave information on all kinds of physical activity,

including that associated with household chores, commuting, job-related

and leisure, as well as a daily total.

To be able to analyze the data statistically, the researchers

converted the activity information into metabolic equivalent (MET)

hours per day, using estimated oxygen consumption associated with each

type of activity.

Medium amount of physical activity linked to 43% lower risk of

Parkinson's

None of the participants had Parkinson's diseases at the start of

the study follow-up period in October 1997. Over the follow-up, which

lasted until the end of 2010, information was collected on each

participant until either Parkinson's disease was diagnosed, they died

or left the country.

During the follow-up, 286 of the participants were diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease.

In their statistical analysis, the researchers found participants

who spent more than 6 hours a day doing physical activity related to

household chores and commuting had a 43% lower risk of developing

Parkinson's disease, compared with counterparts who only spent 2 hours a day on

the same physical activity.

Also, in men, a medium level of total physical activity - defined as

an average of 39.1 MET hours per day - was linked to a 45% lower risk

of developing Parkinson's, compared with a low level of total physical

activity.

When the team looked only at leisure time physical activity, they

found no links with Parkinson's disease risk.

New analysis of pooled data from other studies supported the

findings

The team also carried out a fresh analysis where they pooled the

data from the study with that of five earlier prospective studies and

found it supported the finding that more physical activity is

tied to less risk of Parkinson's disease.

"These findings are important for both the general population and

the health care of patients with Parkinson's disease," they note.

Parkinson's disease belongs to a group of conditions known as motor

system disorders that occur when the brain loses cells that produce

dopamine. It usually affects people aged 50 and over.

The four main symptoms of Parkinson's disease are: trembling in the

arms, hands, legs, jaw and face; stiffness of arms and legs and trunk;

slowness of movement; and impaired balance and coordination. As

symptoms get worse, walking, talking and simple daily tasks become

more and more difficult.

In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) listed Parkinson's disease as the 14th leading

cause of death among Americans.

Meanwhile, Medical News Today recently reported a
breakthrough in stem cell treatment for Parkinson's disease, where

an animal study shows it is possible to make dopamine cells from

embryonic stem cells and transplant them into the brain to replace

those lost to the disease.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Not to be reproduced without permission.

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Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.