I was just watching a Frontline episode about Parkinson’s disease. It was an interesting show, but a segment about treating Parkinson’s disease with exercise really got my attention. Ongoing research is showing that exercise is beneficial for Parkinson’s patients, potentially more so than some medications. Obviously, more research is required to determine the mechanisms by which exercise acts on the brain and the optimal dose of exercise for treating PD.
I’m not surprised, though, since I believe that regular exercise plays a beneficial role in nearly every physiological process in the body. That doesn’t mean that exercise can prevent or cure every disease, but I think we will continue to learn that exercise has some benefit or, at the very least, doesn’t make any disease worse. It’s nice to see that research is being done in this area and that new benefits of exercise are being discovered.
You can watch the full Frontline episode here and learn more about the research in the area of exercise and Parkinson’s disease here.
Dr Parr Says... 