Does exercising protect against Parkinson’s disease?

Can we take advantage of regular exercise as protection against Parkinson's disease?

Sport is often mentioned as one of the best protective factors against diseases of all kinds.

While it is clear that the practice of exercise is useful for Cardiovascular diseases, obesity or diabetes, its effect on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, although suspected, was not so clear.

Does exercising protect against Parkinson's disease? This is the question we are going to answer in the following paragraphs - read on to find out the answer!

Does regular exercise protect against Parkinson's disease?

We often hear that practicing sports can be beneficial not only for our physical health, but also for our mental health. It is often said that regular physical activity can be a factor of protection and prevention of diseases associated with old age. a factor of protection and prevention of diseases associated with old age.. Given the frequency, severity and the great family and social cost of certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, much research has tried to see if there is a lower risk of suffering from these problems when exercising.

Over the decades, several of these investigations have revealed evidence that, yes, exercise does protect against Parkinson's disease and other dementias. The first study to address this question was that of Sasco and colleagues in 1992. His research group had the merit of being the first to reveal that a high level of physical activity could reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. In their case, it was an epidemiological, case-control study.

More than a decade later, in 2005, a paper by Chen's group and colleagues was published that also provided evidence supporting the idea that high levels of exercise were associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease in men. In their case, they studied a sample of 48,574 men and 77,254 women, all of whom were in the health sciences, following their health progress over 19 years.

In this second study, it was observed that men who practiced intense exercise an average of 10 months per year benefited from a significant reduction in the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.. Individuals who led an active life were about 60% less likely to suffer from neurodegenerative diseases compared to those who, on average, exercised two or less months a year.

Another study by Xu et al. (2010) published in the journal Neurology, with 213,701 participants and obtaining results similar to the previous case. In this case, the participants were part of the cohort of the US National Institute of Nutrition Diet and Health Study (NIH-AARP). Their research found that people who exercised moderately-intense exercise at the age of 25-29 and in the ten years prior to the completion of the study had a 40% lower risk of Parkinson's disease compared to those who did not. of suffering Parkinson's disease compared to sedentary participants.

We could go on talking about the many investigations that have addressed this same issue and have obtained similar results, varying in gender and nationality. What most of them conclude is that having an active lifestyle is a good protective factor against the possibility of suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, especially if moderate to intense sport is practiced.

No matter the type of sport: swimming, tennis, jogging, cycling, aerobic and anaerobic exercise.... Everything seems to indicate that the practice of sport, at least in general terms, protects against Parkinson's disease.

Meta-analysis on Parkinson's disease and sport

As we were saying, there have been many studies that have addressed how practicing exercise can work as a protective factor against Parkinson's disease. This was investigated in the form of a meta-analysis in 2018 with a study published in JAMA Neurology. This work consists of a large systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies related to the topic and which gave even more strength to the benefits of exercise in preventing Parkinson's.

The objective set by the group of Fang and colleagues behind this meta-analysis was to quantify the dose-response association between physical activity and the risk of Parkinson's disease. To do so, they carried out a systematic review in search of articles that addressed the subject, finding them in prestigious and scientifically rigorous sources such as PubMed, Embase and Web of Science.

In their research they were able to identify eight prospective studies that totaled 544,336 participants and were followed for an average of 12 years (6.1 to 22 years). The total number of Parkinson's cases identified over the course of the studies was 2,192. As a result, the researchers observed an association between both a high level of total physical activity (21%) and a moderate-intense one (29%) and a reduced risk of the neurodegenerative disease, especially among men.. Light physical activity was not associated with reduced risk.

How would physical activity prevent Parkinson's?

Based on the multiple researches addressing the subject, it seems to be clear that regular exercise is an important and effective protective factor against Parkinson's disease. Now, the key question is: how does exercise reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease? Several mechanisms have been suggested that could explain the strong neuroprotective effect of physical activity.

It has been shown in laboratory animals that regular exercise contributes to the preservation of dopaminergic function, a function that is severely impaired in Parkinson's diseasea function that is severely affected in Parkinson's disease due to the destruction of the cells of the substantia nigra. In addition, it has been observed that regular physical activity reduces the damage of dopaminergic cells in motor circuits, such as in the striatal nucleus and the mesocortical system.

Another possible mechanism explaining the benefits of exercise in the prevention of Parkinson's disease is that physical activity reduces cellular inflammation and oxidative stress. Added to this, physical exercise has a neuroprotective effectcontributing to the expression of developmental factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor and glia-derived neurotrophic factor.

Can physical exercise help those who already have the disease?

It has been seen that physical exercise is not only useful to prevent Parkinson's disease, but can also help those who already suffer from neurodegeneration, something that is in fact already applied in therapy with this type of patients.

Physical activity is part of the therapy and management of the condition, and serves to delay the deterioration of neurodegeneration.It serves to delay the motor deterioration responsible for the typical signs associated with the disease, such as tremors, joint stiffness and slowness of movement, thus prolonging the functional independence of those affected.

Exercises that enhance strength and dynamic stretching notoriously help to delay the progression of symptoms, both physical and cognitive. A good example of an exercise with these characteristics is Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art that greatly improves balance.a Chinese martial art that significantly improves balance and increases strength, mobility and mental fitness, as well as being safe and having a greatly reduced risk of falls.

How much exercise is necessary?

At this point, we will mention how much physical activity is recommended not only to prevent the onset and development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, but also to contribute to a perfect physical and psychological state at any age and in any condition.

Although there are different guidelines on what level of exercise is necessary for physical and mental fitness, we will base ourselves on the Physical Activity Guide developed by the American Heart Association, which is often used as a worldwide reference.

Preschool children (3 to 5 years old) should be physically active all day long to promote their growth and development. Children and adolescents (6 to 17) should get a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per day. From the age of 17 onwards, in young adulthood and middle age, both light and moderate aerobic exercise is recommended, with activities such as brisk walking (150 minutes per day) and brisk walking (150 minutes per day).with activities such as brisk walking (150 to 300 minutes per week) and intense exercise such as cycling or running (75 to 150 minutes).

As for the elderly (65 years and older), it is advisable to the practice of multicomponent physical activities, practicing balance and flexibility, as well as aerobic and strength exercises to reduce muscle atrophy, frailty and falls.in addition to aerobic and strength exercises to reduce muscle atrophy, frailty and falls. In case of chronic disease or disability, the patient should try to practice the recommended exercise according to age, within the patient's possibilities.

It should be said that, however little intense the physical activity performed, it is always better than having a sedentary and inactive lifestyle. The ideal is to achieve the recommended weekly objectives, but if this is not possible, do not get discouraged and try to incorporate some exercise into the weekly routine. If you do more than what is recommended, so much the better, as it will bring added cardiovascular benefits, although you should always avoid overexertion and pushing your body to its limits.

Although exercise does not guarantee that we will not suffer from any neurodegenerative disease, it does significantly reduce the chances of suffering from it.. This should be seen as a message of hope and encouragement for those who have a family history of these diseases and understand that frequent exercise is our best preventive medicine for all types of diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.