CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Endurance exercise is an important treatment for people with Parkinson’s disease, Northwestern Medicine research has shown. But is high-intensity or moderate-intensity exercise the most effective in slowing the progression of the disease?
Researchers at Northwestern Medicine will spend the next two years trying to come up with a form of physical exercise that helps Parkinson’s Disease patients the most.
“It is a given that any exercise helps people with Parkinson’s somewhat," said Daniel Corcos, professor in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern.
“And the real question we want to know is whether working out at a high intensity slows down the rate at which the disease progresses. So the underlying question of the study is whether we can slow down the rate at which the disease progresses.”
A new Phase 3 multi-site clinical research trial from Northwestern Medicine will test if high-intensity treadmill exercise is more effective in decreasing the signs of Parkinson's disease in individuals who have not initiated medication for Parkinson’s.
This is the first time high-intensity endurance exercise is being studied across a large number of sites in both the U.S. and Canada and in a diverse population.
Corcos said Northwestern will be enrolling 370 Parkinson’s patients in the study here, ages 40 to 80. This clinical trial is being conducted in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Colorado, Oregon Health Sciences Center, New York University Langone Health, the University of Florida and the Parkinson's Foundation.
Some participants will get moderate-intensity exercise on a treadmill. The others will get high-intensity exercise. They will exercise for 18 months, four times a week for 30 minutes under close supervision and then be followed for another six months for a total study duration of 24 months.
"If the trial shows high-intensity exercise delays the rate at which Parkinson's disease progresses, physicians will have a clear guideline to prescribe exercise as a means to slow progression," Corcos said.
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Corcos also will investigate whether endurance exercise: 1) influences the loss of signals from the brain cells that degenerate in Parkinson's disease, 2) increases brain-derived neurotrophic factors, which are a family of proteins that induce the survival, development and function of neurons and are important for neuronal health, and 3) reduces inflammation, which is known to be elevated in Parkinson's disease.
The research team also will collect genetic information on the participants in order to ascertain potential reasons some people respond better to exercise than others.
Parkinson's disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease behind Alzheimer's disease. Nearly 1,000,000 people have Parkinson's disease in the U.S., and 60,000 people are newly diagnosed each year.
The disease signs and symptoms include progressive loss of muscle control, trembling, stiffness, slowness and impaired balance. As the disease progresses, it may become difficult to walk, talk and complete simple tasks. Most people who develop Parkinson’s are 60 and older.