Dundee Research Interest Group

Conference Report

Parkinson's and Exercise

Bringing movement into the treatment of the large movement inhibitor

Sport is healthy. This is a well-known fact that hardly anyone denies. Not even the most comfortable couch-potato who wouldn't take an unnecessary step himself, let alone think about walking. This species does not like any kind of sport, every effort is too much and yet they could benefit from exercising. On the other hand, many sick people would like to have the possibility to do sports in order to resist their disease with a fit body.

The peculiar problem for us living with Parkinson's is the loss of control over the body. It happens slowly but steadily and cannot be stopped. The possibility to live an active and healthy lifestyle seems to have moved a long way off

When we conceived this event, we were sure that science had already started questioning this ‘tautology’. Anyway - questioned or not - despite tremor, rigidity, dyskinesia, stiffness and the many other concomitant symptoms of our disease, we would all continue to try to do some form of sport. Above all, we wanted to know how much exercise Homo Parkinson's is able to tolerate, which kinds of sport or even only movements could help to alleviate specific symptoms, and finally, we wanted to know where we could practise these sports.

We didn't care too much about the breadth of this topic: during the preparation I searched for publications of the kind 'Parkinson's and football, ... swimming, ... boxing, ... skiing, ... cycling, ... golf' and always found something I had been looking for. As unbelievable as it may sound, it seems that there is only one mistake to make- namely not to do any sport at all. Every sport somehow offers reasons to make it suitable for PwP1 and a huge step towards a much better quality of life.

Already the first lecture:

Julie Jones

Exercise: A positive and active approach to managing Parkinson's.

delivered interesting facts, which Julie presented impressively in her inimitable dynamic style. Her presentation was not based on a few dozen blindly googled and only superficially judged papers, the way I obtained my layman knowledge, but she summarised the current literature of which there are more than 2,500 publications highlighting the interest in exercise for the Parkinson’s community.   From Julies critique of the literature it is clear the value that exercise brings. When it comes to implementation in daily life, it is above all intensity and frequency that determine success. You can swim endlessly, lane after lane then chat with your buddy at the end of each lane: The only thing you'll become is - wet'. Without effort there is no success. Without routine you will become careless and skip training sessions. An effective remedy is a buddy with whom you train and who is your 'exercising conscience'. And with whom you have fun - because without fun it will not work in the long run.

After this overview, sports that have been shown to be effective in attacking various symptoms of Parkinson's were presented.

Dylan Boswell:

Dancing

Dylan' contribution concentrated  contribution on the practical proof and animated the 70 participants to a short dance lesson that was enthusiastic. She described the dance movements with everyday movements, such as hanging up laundry, taking it off and putting it in the top of acupboard. These activities are well known to everybody and so are the movements, which are repeated and rhythmically performed. This is no comparison to the dusty dance school. This is sport, fun and socializing. The method works according to the same principle as 'rhythmic marks', which was presented atthe DRIG event 'Parkinson's and Art'. No wonder that everyone was eager to get involved and let Dylan answer a lot of questions.

After this extra dynamic contribution 

Robert Bichan:

Tai Chi

directed the topic  into calmer climes. He demonstrated various movements that bring relief not only to PwP but also to patients with other long-term illnesses. On a sideline he explained the history of Tai Chi, a centuries-old Asian martial art, not without mentioning a few delicious anecdotes that have evolved over time and represent the 'more' of culture than a pure sport would do. Today Tai Chi is widely recognised as the gold standard for balance.

The third contribution to this session was reserved for a method specially designed for PwP:

Erin Traill: PD Warrior

PD Warrior was developed in Australia about 10 years ago and has since spread worldwide. The basis is the dedicated application of methods that translate the latest research findings, for example in the field of neuroplasticity, into tailor-made exercises. The aspect of personalized training is of great importance. Unfortunately this presentation suffered from the partial failure (?) of our technology. We have not been able to ensure a permanent connection between the computers in our conference room and Erin's. However, we will publish the presentation on our website and provide the contact details.

Finally showed

Chloe Macmillan: Parkinson’s UK and Exercise

that Parkinson's UK offers a portfolio of services of all kinds and in addition many local Branches conduct Exercise Classes.

The event concluded with 'my exercise' - a discussion on personal experiences of PwP with exercise, led by John Minhinick, Chairman of Fife Branch. Two of the most prominent 'exercisers' from our area presented the important role that active sport can play:

Janet Kerr, head of the 'Young Onset Group' in Fife, had set herself the goal of cycling a minimum of 50 miles for 50 weeks in the year of her 50th birthday. Besides the need for a high level of fitness, such a mammoth goal can only be achieved if you are extremely goal-oriented, athletic and also a little bit stubborn. Janet knows how to present this mixture skilfully (although I'm not afraid that one or the other in the audience will go for a similar idea).

We found the last lecturer in the DRIG series itself: Marc vanGrieken has been chairperson of DRIG since its foundation. He has been a long-distance runner for many years. His illness did not stop him from practicing his sport - quite the contrary: despite 13 years of PArkinson's he still runs distances up to half marathon length and convinces acquaintances, friends and last but not least a team of the MRC PPU Lab to compete together with Dario Alessi and Esther Sammler among others.

The final discussion showed that Janet and Marc were the most outstanding athletes, but by no means the only ones, which was confirmed by the survey in advance.

We would like to thank our friends from the MRC PPU Lab for their support - not only at the event, but also for their tireless efforts in the fight against Parkinson's.

1 To be honest: some publications seemed to serve rather as a reason for the authors to practice their favourite sport...

2 Assessment of the procedures used, size and selection of participants,...

3 She means that literally