A prospective study with 67 Parkinson's Disease patients was published in the Archives of Neurology November 5, 2012. The patients, who all had gait and balance issues, were assigned to one of three supervised exercise groups 3 times per week for 3 months: (1) Higher-intensity treadmill for 30 minutes at 70-80% heart rate reserve, (2) Lower-intensity treadmill exercise (50 minutes at 40-50% heart rate reserve), and (3) Lower extremity stretching and strengthening (leg press, leg extension, leg curl). After 3 months they were evaluated by seeing how fat they could walk in 6 minutes compared to before the exercise intervention. Surprisingly, the group that did the best was group (2), the low intensity, 50 minute group. The researchers speculate that the longer duration probably had a beneficial effect. All three groups, however, did improve in the 6 minute walk, just not as dramatically. Only the stretch/resistance group improved in muscle strength. This study adds to a body of research showing that exercise is beneficial for people with Parkinson's Disease.
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