| Posted on: | Category: Parkinson's
Researchers found that women who exercised the most frequently had up to a 25% lower risk for PD than their less-active counterparts.
- The French study investigated the relationship between physical activity and PD onset in 25,075 women with an average age of 71.9.
- The study was published online on May 17 in Neurology.
"Finding ways to prevent or delay the onset of Parkinson's is really important, and physical activity seems to be one of the possible strategies to reduce the risk," said Alexis Elbaz, MD, Ph.D., research director, French Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France
Why it matters
- This is good news as no cures or treatments can modify PD.
- Available medications reduce symptoms only.
- Physical activity is a low-risk, inexpensive, and accessible intervention.
The context
- E3N is an ongoing study in France on risk factors for major chronic diseases of women, such as cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
- Since 1990, the study has followed 98,995 French women born between 1925 and 1950.
- The study focuses on lifestyle, diet, hormones, environment, and treatments for women's health.
- Six questionnaires asked about participants' recreational, sports, and household activities, such as walking, climbing stairs, gardening, and cleaning.
- The authors attributed the metabolic equivalent of task (MET) values to each activity. They multiplied METs by frequency and duration to obtain a physical activity score.
The takeaway
The results spotlight the importance of exercising early in mid-life to prevent PD later on, Dr. Elbaz reported to Medscape Medical News.
Dr. Elbaz also noted that the risk for PD decreased linearly with increasing physical activity levels. "So doing even a little bit of physical activity is better than doing nothing at all."
