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Tools for Exercise Professionals
 

Who work with People with Parkinson's Disease

Check here to find helpful tools to share with your PD clients. Some of the images and information are from my presentations and books, so please source the material if you use them publicly.

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When I show this slide, I usually show it in stages, going left to right. The exercise programs appear when the slide appears. I explain that when we are working out aerobically at the appropriate levels to make the brain change (enough to make symptom change), here is what happens.
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1. When you are working out, sweating, breathing hard, or both (a good indication you are at the heart rate level required)​.


2. Next comes the muscle. I click on it, and it beats; I explain that the higher-intensity exercise makes the muscles contract. 


3. The contracting muscles release an essential hormone called IRISIN, also known as the "exercise hormone." This hormone does two amazing things. 1. It improves cognitive function after exercise, and 2. It activates a critical protein called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor).


4. Why is BDNF so important? Because it plays a crucial role in protecting and preserving neurons, which are the primary targets of Parkinson's disease in the brain. All the benefits listed below in the cloud are direct results of exercising: neuroplasticity, neuroprotection, and cognitive improvement. 

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​NOTE: The following excerpt is from page 48 of Parkinson's How to Reduce Symptoms Through Exercise.

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Eight Life-Changing Results from Consistent, High-Intensity
Exercise


Here is the best news. Eight life-changing positive effects of high-intensity exercise on the brain have been documented in a review (Mahalakshmi et al. 2o2o) on exercise and neuroprotective mechanisms. 

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1.  Exercise improves mood and sleep.


2. Exercise reduces stress and anxiety (Dauwan et al. qtd. in Mahalakshmi et al. 2).


3. Exercise reduces insulin resistance. For people with PD, insulin resistance causes a faster progression of motor symptoms—tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, and so forth.


4. Exercise reduces inflammation. Chronic inflammation contributes to the condition and progression of PD. The reduction of inflammation is a phenomenal benefit in helping to slow the progression of the disease (Barrientos et al. qtd. in Mahalakshmi et al. 1) (Mee-Inta et al. qtd. in Mahalakshmi et al. 4).


5. Exercise stimulates growth and releases growth factors—naturally occurring substances capable of stimulating cellular growth, proliferation, and cellular differentiation—offering a promising approach to neuroprotection and neurorestoration for PD. However, using growth factor drug replacement has been found too difficult and insufficiently safe for treating PD. Fortunately, exercise is being shown to safely release growth factors naturally (Mahalakshmi et al. 1).


6. Exercise stimulates the growth of new blood vessels (Paillard as qtd. in Mahalakshmi et al. 6). A 2022 pilot trial (Inacio "Pilot"), studying how a biological compound stimulates new blood vessel growth in the brain for people with PD, theorizes that restoring blood flow with new blood vessels—known as angiogenesis—can slow and even reverse the progression of PD. However, like growth factors, it is still not known how safe such compounds are for humans. Until current studies of the compounds are completed, exercise is a safe way to achieve the growth of new blood vessels.


7. Exercise improves memory and learning (rewiring and neuroplasticity; see more in Chapter 4) (Philips et al. qtd. in Mahalakshmi et al. 9).


8. Exercise preserves brain cells’ overall health, abundance, and survival (neuronal survival, see more in Chapter 4) (Mahalakshmi et al. 8).


These eight life-changing results offer enormous benefit for PWPD, and with no side effects. There are other benefits as well. Exercise helps with depression and anxiety. It improves the integrity and density of white matter in the brain, which speeds up our ability to make neural connections. These benefits enhance the quality of life—which is essential not just for PWPD but for everyone.

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