Study finds biking benefits Parkinson's disease patients

The medical community continues to focus on ways to elongate independent living in patients with Parkinson's disease by slowing the progression of the disease. A recent study showed the significance of exercise and the impact it can have on these patients.

The study, which was conducted by researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute in Ohio, found that exercise programs on stationary bicycles, especially those in which people pedal increasingly faster, can give patients a great deal of benefits. The disease is chronic and it causes the central nervous system to break down overtime.

The study idea first came about after the lead researcher Dr. Jay Alberts rode a bike alongside a Parkinson's disease patient to raise awareness for the disease in 2003. The participant felt an improvement in her symptoms after the race.

"The finding was serendipitous," said Dr. Alberts. "I was pedaling faster than her, which forced her to pedal faster. She had improvements in her upper extremity function, so we started to look at the possible mechanism behind this improved function."

The researchers used functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) to test the effect of exercise on 26 patients with Parkinson's. The fcMRI helped them examine the participants' brain function while exercising, and it was analyzed after the participants took part in an eight-week exercise therapy. The researchers then looked at the brain activity compared with the average pedaling rate, and found that those who pedaled the fastest were the most likely to experience improvements in their symptoms by the end of the study. The next step is for more research to be conducted to verify the results.

"We're now looking at this phenomenon in patients with exercise bikes in their home, and other exercises like swimming and rowing on tandem machines may provide similar benefits," said Chintan Shah, a researcher on the study.

Findings such as this are imperative for the millions around the world living with Parkinson's disease. According to the National Parkinson Foundation, diagnosing the disease can be difficult as there is not standard test besides a clinical examination. There is also no cure for the condition, but there are medications, therapies and surgeries that give patients relief. Often times, family caregivers need to step in and lend a hand when the condition progresses.