More active people with Parkinson's keep memory and movement better for years
A University of Cincinnati study of 294 people with mild to moderate Parkinson's, followed for up to seven years, links being active for more than 8 hours a week (including walking, housework and work) with slower progression of the disease. It is an association, not proof that activity slows it, and activity was self-reported.
Moving for more than 8 hours a week, counting walks, housework, work and hobbies, is linked to Parkinson’s disease progressing more slowly. That is the finding of a University of Cincinnati study published on 7 October in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The team followed 294 people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s, with an average age of 66, for up to seven years through the Cincinnati Cohort Biomarker Program. Participants estimated in a questionnaire how many hours a week they were active at work, at home and in their free time. That split them into three groups: up to 4 hours, 4 to 8 hours, and more than 8 hours.
Memory barely shifted in the most active group
On a memory and thinking test scored from 0 to 30, the least active group lost an average of 0.478 points a year, the middle group 0.090 and the most active 0.007. On the movement symptom scale (0 to 132, averaging 23 at the start), the least active group’s score rose slightly each year (more symptoms), while the other two groups’ scores fell a little.
The differences held after accounting for age, sex and how long people had had the disease. And they followed a pattern: the more activity, whether measured in total hours, intensity or vigorous exercise, the slower the decline.
Alberto Espay, University of Cincinnati neurologist and co-author of the study. Photo: University of Cincinnati.
What the study can’t say yet
This is an observational study: it shows a link and does not prove that activity slows the disease. Activity was reported by the participants themselves, who may misjudge it, and most started with good memory and thinking, so the authors urge caution and call for more research. According to first author Dong-Woo Ryu, the effect may depend on how long people stay active and whether they keep exercising over time.
Co-author Alberto Espay credited the volunteers: “This paper exists because hundreds of people agreed to keep coming back.” The work was funded by the Gardner Family Foundation and the Precision Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases Fund.
