A new study published in the May 17 edition of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that regular exercise could decrease the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
Research showed that females who participated in the study and who exercised the most — to include activities such as cycling, walking, gardening, cleaning, and playing sports — “had a 25-percent lower rate of Parkinson’s disease when compared to those who exercised the least. The study does not prove that exercise lowers the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. It only shows an association.”
The study included more than 95,000 females with an average age of 49 who did not have Parkinson’s when the study began. Researchers studied participants for three decades, “during which 1,074 participants developed Parkinson’s disease.”
Study author Alexis Elbaz, M.D., Ph.D., Inserm Research Center in Paris, France, said, “Exercise is a low-cost way to improve health overall, so our study sought to determine if it may be linked to a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating disease that has no cure. Our results provide evidence for planning interventions to prevent Parkinson’s disease.”
