Question

Note; PD means Parkinson's Disease

6. Name three people you worked with. Give a 2 sentence description of how you had to modify exercise for each of them (6 pts) 7. What are the physical activity guidelines for people with PD? (4 pts)

Answer 1

Ans) 6)Examples of Parkinson’s-related exercise programs include:

• Intensive sports training.
• Treadmill training without body weight support.
• Resistance training.
• Aerobics.
• Alternative exercises, such as yoga.
• Home-based exercises.
• Practicing movement strategies.

- Symptom management — First, exercise reduces stiffness and improves mobility, posture, balance and gait. Besides increasing oxygen delivery and maintaining neurotransmitters to keep the heart, lungs, and nervous system healthy, exercise also helps reduce depression, stress, and anxiety.

- Slow disease progression — Improved mobility decreases the risk of falling and other complications associated with Parkinson’s. Vigorous exercise, such as running or riding a bicycle, can ward off changes in the brain caused by aging and Parkinson’s.

- Researchers have studied the brains of mice that exercised under conditions similar to a human being on a treadmill. Exercise did not increase the number of neurons or amount of dopamine in mice’s brains. But it did prompt their brains to use dopamine more efficiently.

- Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate movement and emotional response. Lack of it is associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.

7) Currently, there are no approved pharmacologic therapies that alter disease outcomes for patients with PD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or PD dementia (PDD).

- The prevalence of cognitive impairment in PD varies, but some estimate that up to 30% of patients with PD have cognitive impairment at initial presentation. Exercise has been shown to have beneficial effects on cognition in the general population.

- Aging is associated with progressive reduction of gray matter volume, whereas exercise and cardiovascular fitness are associated with greater cortical gray matter and hippocampal volume.

- Prospective studies have shown increased cortical gray matter or hippocampal volumes in seniors randomized to 6 to 12 months of exercise compared to less active controls.

- Likewise, blood volume of the hippocampal dentate gyrus was increased at the end of a 3-month exercise program, which correlated with aerobic fitness defined by peak VO2. In addition, there is less brain atrophy in patients with AD who are cardiovascularly fit

- These studies suggest that improved cardiovascular fitness preserves brain tissue in regions vital for memory and cognition.