Parkinsons and the effects of Exercise - Michael Irvine (Paladin Biokineticists)

Parkinsons is a degenerative disease where the brain cells that affect the control of movement slowly dies, resulting in disturbances in the messages being relayed from the brain to muscles. This inhibits or negatively affects movement. This mechanism can be explained physiologically by a chemical produced in the brain cells called dopamine, which is used by the nerve cells to help control movement. When an individual has Parkinson’s, these brain cells die making it hard to control the muscles involved in movement. Another factor involved in the neurological damage is the occurrence of protein misfolding and formation of distinct aggregates. This results in a putative pathological protein load on the nervous system. Symptoms of parkinson’s occurs when there is more than an 80% loss of dopaminergic cells.

Symptom

Classic symptoms of Parkinson’s include:

1.      Rigidity and trembling of head

2.      Forward tilt of trunk

3.      Reduced arm swinging

4.      Rigidity and trembling of extremities

5.      Shuffling gait with short steps

Parkinsons is an idiopathic condition, therefore it is not clearly known what causes the cells to waste away. Parkinsons is a highly researched disease to help us possibly prevent and treat it better.

Speculated causes:

• ·         genetics
• ·         mitochondrial dysfunction and antioxidants
• ·         occupational exposures (pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals)
• ·         smoking, coffee, and alcohol.

Exercise and Parkinsons:

Research over the last couple of years has uncovered a large amount of evidence that exercise is an effective form of treatment for Parkinson’s disease and could delay the steady decline of the disease. Studies using animals found that exercise has protective benefits towards the onset of Parkinsons symptoms. This appears to be due to the release of neurotrophic factors, greater cerebral oxygenation which both promote new cell growth and survival.

Exercise helps stimulate dopamine synthesis in the remaining dopaminergic cells, thus reducing symptoms. Research suggests exercise enhances neuroplasticity in Parkinson’s patients via 5 key principles:

1.      Intense exercise maximizes synaptic plasticity

2.      Complex exercise promote greater structural adaptation

3.      Rewarding activities increase dopamine levels which promotes learning/relearning

4.      “Use it or Lose It” phenomenon (dopaminergic neurones are highly responsive to exercise and inactivity)

5.      Exercise if done early slows down the progression of the disease.

Taking into account these 5 key principles of exercise and Parkinson’s disease, exercise has shown to provide many benefits to Parkinson’s patients such as:

·         Increased health related quality of life

·         Decrease in disease severity

·         Increased muscle strength

·         Increased aerobic capacity

·         Increased physical functioning

·         Increased balance

·         Improvement in walking speed/ability

Michael completed his BSc Sports Science undergraduate degree at The University of Stellenbosch and his BHSc honours degree in Biokinetics at The University of the Stellenbosch.

Michael has a passion for waterpolo and many other sports such as rugby, soccer, tennis and golf.

Michael has an interest in orthopaedic rehabilitation, in particular the shoulder. As well as a keen interest in chronic disease management.

Michael can be contacted on 072 929 1309 or mikeirvine@kinetics.co.za