Advice to People with Parkinson's in My Clinic: Exercise

Abstract

There is compelling evidence that exercise must be part of main line therapy for people with Parkinson's disease. In this viewpoint, we outline the four key components of exercise: aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, flexibility exercise, and neuromotor exercises (posture, gait, balance, and agility) that can improve both motor and non-motor symptoms of the disease and, in the case of aerobic exercise, may delay the disease. We outline guidelines on how to change and optimize the exercise prescription at different stages of the disease.

Keywords: Aerobic exercise; Parkinson’s disease; exercise training; neuroprotection.

Fig. 1

Control and exercise aerobic condition for clinical trials conducted by Schenkman et al. [5], van der Kolk et al. [6] (tested off medication), and Mak et al. [7] tested on medication. Blue depicts baseline condition and red the 6-month condition.

Fig. 2

Exercise prescription flowchart for people with Parkinson’s disease.