In patients with Parkinson’s Disease, exercise results in clinically meaningful improvements in motor symptoms, such as changes seen with medications (4-9 points better on a 108-point scale) compared to control over 1-6 months.1 It doesn’t provide clear improvements in quality of life. Six more patients out of 100 who exercise will avoid one or more falls over 6-12 months compared to control.
In a Radio NZ interview, American John Pepper (diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1992 and died in 2024 at age 90), discussed how he bypassed his movement problems by keeping fit and using conscious leg movements (overriding the faulty basal ganglia). By doing this, he could walk as fast as people without Parkinson’s.2
As published in NZ Doctor and Research Review
