“Exercise is a low-cost way to improve health overall, so our study sought to determine if it may be linked to a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating disease that has no cure,” said study author Alexis Elbaz, MD, Ph.D., of the Inserm Research Center in Paris, France in a press release, “Our results provide evidence for planning interventions to prevent Parkinson’s disease.”
For the study, the researchers included 95, 354 female participants at an average age of 49 years old, and followed them for three decades. At the start of the study, none of the women had Parkinson’s disease. However, by the end of the study, 1, 074 participants had developed the condition.
Throughout the study, the participants completed up to six questionnaires detailing the types and amount of physical activity they engaged in. Questions included how far they walked, how many hours were spent on household activities, and how much time was spent in moderate recreational activities such as gardening and more vigorous ones such as sports.
The researchers then assigned each activity a score based on the metabolic equivalent of a task (MET). More intense exercise, such as cycling, generated more METs, whereas less intense forms, such as walking, generated fewer METs. On average, participants engage in 45 METs per week, with the top 25% of exercisers engaging in 71 METs per week, and the bottom 25%: 27 METs.
Altogether, the researchers identified 246 cases of Parkinson’s disease among those in the top 25% exercise group, and 286 cases in the lowest 25%. After adjusting for factors such as residence, menopausal status, and smoking, the researchers found that those in the highest exercise group had a 25% lower rate of developing Parkisnon’s disease than those in the lowest group when physical activity was assessed up to 10 years before diagnosis.
“With our large study, not only did we find that female participants who exercise the most have a lower rate of developing Parkinson’s disease, we also showed that early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease were unlikely to explain these findings, and instead that exercise is beneficial and may help delay or prevent this disease,” said Dr. Elbaz. “Our results support the creation of exercise programs to help lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease.”
Sources: EurekAlert, Neurology
