Today’s feed brings me the following two articles, one of which points out that exercise is not a “one size fits all” approach to controlling PD symptoms, and the other which is more exploratory in nature and thought-provoking.

Exercise and PD – review article 

In this review article, the authors

” briefly review the state of the art in key areas and speculate on the likely state of research in each area in the next 20 years. Key areas relate to: (1) the physiological benefits of exercise with respect to disease modification; (2) the best type of exercise; (3) the optimal intensity of exercise; and (4) implementation strategies for increasing exercise/physical activity uptake.”

“Does exercise have significant promise to mitigate the burden and possibly the course of PD? We think so. But to answer that question we will need to design trials that account for the multisystem nature of PD, identify the specific effects of exercise and target the underlying pathophysiology/mechanisms. A better understanding of this would allow for a more personalized approach rather than the current ‘one size fits all’ and could most likely confer greater benefits.”

Art for Better Health and Wellbeing

A provocative article that discusses the relationships among, Dopamine, creativity, and Parkinson’s Disease:

“Dopamine’s role in creativity seems causal: when patients with
Parkinson’s receive dopaminergic medicine to improve their
mobility the treatment also stimulates curiosity, motivation, and
even creativity in as many as 10% of patients.

Some develop beautiful art, even if their creative intelligence had never
expressed itself before. Other patients change their existing
artistic expressions under dopaminergic stimulation, sometimes
strikingly.

Perhaps even more provocative is the recent finding that healthy
people who had chosen an artistic profession early in life had
a reduced risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.”