Moderate Physical Activity Reduces Parkinson’s Risk by 45%
Moderate daily physical activity is associated with a decreased risk of Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study that followed 43,368 participants for a 12.6-year period.
For the study, researchers evaluated data for 27,863 females and 15,505 males on leisure time exercise, occupational activity, and total daily physical activity. Researchers quantified the participants physical activity into metabolic equivalent (MET) hours per day, based on the oxygen consumption linked to those activities that the investigators estimated.
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According to researchers, all of the study’s participants had no history of Parkinson’s disease as of the start of the follow-up period (October 1, 1997). The participants were then monitored from that baseline until death, date of emigration, diagnosis of Parkinson’ disease or the end of the follow-up period (December 31, 2010).
During the follow-up, researchers identified 286 cases of Parkinson’s disease.
The study showed a 43% decreased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease among those who spent more than 6 hours per week performing a physical activity compared to participants who spent less than 2 hours per week on commuting and household activity.
They also observed a 45% decrease in Parkinson’s disease risk associated with a medium level of total physical activity (with a mean of 39.1 MET hours per day), compared to those exerting a low level of total physical activity (mean = 30.3 MET-h/day).
“[A] medium level of daily total physical activity was associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, most prominently in males,” they concluded.
“These findings are important for both the general population and the healthcare of patients with Parkinson’s disease.”
-Michelle Canales
Reference:
1. Yang F, Lagerros YT, Bellocco R et al. Physical activity and risk of Parkinson’s disease in the Swedish National March Cohort. Brain. 2014 November [epub ahead of print] doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awu323.