Exercise helps to improve symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

A review of 156 randomised controlled studies found that physical exercise can help to improve the severity of movement related symptoms and the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s Disease. The review from Cochrane (The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews is the leading independent database for systematic reviews in healthcare), included 7,939 people from around the world with the average age between 60 and 74.

The review is the largest systematic review to study the effects of exercise in people with Parkinson’s Disease. The review found that any type of exercise is better than none and exercises ranging from strength and resistance exercise, endurance exercise, dance, water based exercise, yoga, tai chi and physiotherapy all made mild to large improvements to the severity of motor-related (movement) symptoms and overall quality of life for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease.