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A study on the feasibility of high intensity interval training for PD people

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High Intensity Interval Training was conducted at a European gym called Speedflex, and one of the researchers was a former employee of the company. However, they do seem to have tried to be transparent and the company did not have any input or control over the design.

High-intensity interval training in people with Parkinson’s disease: A randomised, controlled feasibility trial

“No significant improvements in cardiac output, cognitive function or quality of life were seen”

  • High-intensity interval training appears to be feasible and acceptable in people with early to mid-stage Parkinson’s disease
  • Patient were able to consistently exercise at greater than 85% of their maximal heart rate across the 12 week intervention
  • Significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness were seen across the intervention period

 

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Old drugs in new bottles

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An interesting development, or in this case, two interesting developments, is the finding that currently available medications might be repurposed for their neuroprotective effects. Here are two articles on two drugs that show promise.

This is a report on a hypertension medication that provides neuroprotection in mice and may be transferable to humans… Are mice brains similar enough to humans for it to work? A recent report on isradipine, another hypertension medication, reported no differences in symptoms between controls and those receiving the medications. We shall see.

Felodipine induces autophagy in mouse brains with pharmacokinetics amenable to repurposing

Nrct we have a case in which a tricyclic antidepressant, nortriptyline, has been found to slow down the aggregation of alpha synuclein proteins in the brain.

Nortriptyline inhibits aggregation and neurotoxicity of alpha-synuclein

 Not sure whether either will pan out, but anyone with either hypertension or depression could discuss these articles with their doctor(s) and come to a mutually agreeable course of action.

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Put on your dancing shoes

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Two links to Internet URLs reporting on recent research.

Comparing Dancing and Fitness

Dancing can reverse the signs of aging

The first link is the actual research article. The second link is an article reporting on the first one.

The results of the research article are not quite as effusive as the non-technical news article. Which is to be expected from a scientific article – don’t claim more than the data actually supports. The “popular ” press isn’t constrained by the same principles.

Bottom line – dance movement therapy is good for you. In my area, dance classes are free of charge and accommodate all levels of mobility, including wheelchair bound folks.

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Dance, aerobic exercise and musical training

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Today we have a couple of links to articles on the effects of dance and music:

Effects of Dance/Movement Training vs. Aerobic Exercise Training

Abstract only, but the results appear to be in favor of Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) as positive. Aerobic Exercise Therapy (AET) improved cardiovascular health, though, so both aerobic and dance movement therapies should be used for health.

Executive and non-executive composite scores showed a significant increase post-training (F(1,37)=4.35, p=.04; F(1,37)=7.01, p=.01). Cardiovascular fitness improvements were specific to the AET group (F(2,38)=16.40, p<.001) while mobility improvements were not group-dependent (10m walk: F(1,38)=11.67, p=.002; Timed up and go: F(1,38)=22.07, p<.001).
Results suggest that DMT may have a positive impact on cognition and physical functioning in older adults however further research is needed. This study could serve as a model for designing future RCTs with dance-related interventions.

Next, a short article on the effects of musical training on brain plasticity.

The-Effects-of-Musical-Training-on-Brain-Plasticity-and-Cognitive-Processes

The link between musical training and its effects on brain plasticity have been studied since the early 20thcentury neuroanatomy research of Ramon y Cajal. In recent decades, studies have observed the contributions of musical training in enhancing auditory, motor, and language processing areas of the brain. The ability of musical training to impact behavior and critical thinking skills may also open the door for new methods of combating age-and illness-related cognitive decline(emphasis added)

In conclusion, whether or not one has a neurodegenerative disease or not, it is good advice to do aerobic exercise for the heart, dance for the mobility, and learn or continue to play a musical instrument to keep the brain plastic and elastic and fantastic.

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You are what you eat…

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But before we get into the articles about the gut microbiome, from 2015, a review of the various signs that predate full motor symptoms

non-motor and pre-motor symptoms of PD

Recent studies provide new insights on the frequency, pathophysiology, and importance of non-motor features in Parkinson’s disease as well as the recognition that these non-motor symptoms occur in premotor, early, and later phases of Parkinson’s disease.

This study (2017) looks at the progression of PD and problems with the bacteria in the stomach:
Progression of PD and gut dysbiosis
from the conclusions:

The total counts of intestinal bacterial decrease in the course of PD progression. Temporal profiles of lowering of bacterial counts are likely to be different from bacteria to bacteria, and also between the deteriorating and stable groups, which may be able to be exploited to differentiate patients with rapidly and slowly progressive PD pathology.

The search for biomarkers for PD goes for the gut (2018):
Gut Microbiota Dysfunction as Reliable Non-invasive Early Diagnostic Biomarkers in the Pathophysiology of Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review

future directions should therefore, focus on the exploration of newer investigational techniques to identify these reliable early biomarkers and define the specific gut microbes that contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease. This ultimately should pave the way to safer and novel therapeutic approaches that avoid the complications of the drugs delivered today to the brain of Parkinson’s disease patients.

Another article on the role of gut bacteria in PD (2018): Parkinson’s disease and bacteriophages as its overlooked contributors

Our findings add bacteriophages to the list of possible factors associated with the development of PD, suggesting that gut phagobiota composition may serve as a diagnostic tool as well as a target for therapeutic intervention, which should be confirmed in further studies. Our results open a discussion on the role of environmental phages and phagobiota composition in health and disease.

A review of the relationship between the gut microbiome and PD (2018):
Microbes Tickling Your Tummy: the Importance of the Gut-Brain Axis in Parkinson’s Disease

Looking back a few years, one can hope that diet might be a way to affect the course of PD, if diet can change the gut microbiome (2014) :Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome

Long-term diet influences the structure and activity of the trillions of microorganisms residing in the human gut1–5, but it remains unclear how rapidly and reproducibly the human gut microbiome responds to short-term macronutrient change. Here, we show that the short-term consumption of diets composed entirely of animal or plant products alters microbial community structure and overwhelms inter-individual differences in microbial gene expression.

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A couple of abstracts on sleep and restless legs

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Sleep quality as prodromal PD symptom

Although the above link only leads to an abstract, there is enough information to accept their conclusion that “in the general population, deterioration of sleep quality and duration are markers of the prodromal phase of parkinsonism, including Parkinson’s disease.”

Restless Legs Syndrome and whether or not it is improved by DBS is apparently not a matter of consensus RLS improved by DBS although, again, this is not a full text article.

 

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Searching for the secret chord…

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These came out of a search, so might have been previously covered in a post:

This review covers music performed in groups and is not directly related to Parkinson’s: Collaboration and improvisation

Music performance is inherently social. Most music is performed in groups, and even soloists are subject to influence from a (real or imagined) audience. It is also inherently creative. Performers are called upon to interpret notated music, improvise new musical material, adapt to unexpected playing conditions, and accommodate technical errors. The focus of this paper is how creativity is distributed across members of a music ensemble as they perform these tasks

This article does cover Parkinson’s – singing as a way to help with vocal issues and depression. Positive results, but not a randomized control type experiment, so conclusions are tentative:

Individualized singing program

Here’s an interesting experiment in which participants are asked to improvise music which reflects varied feeling states. Not sure how the results can be applied, except that creating music or dance/movement to express emotions is probably of benefit to the brains of people with Parkinson’s, regardless of the strength of the research.
Effects of music making

This study has gotten some wide distribution – on how musicians (people who play an instrument) react more quickly than people who do not. This article digest is from Science Daily (January 2017)

Play an instrument?

“fine” as they say on the sheet music.

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Dance and exercise – a study and a publications review

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Not much new here – more evidence that dance exercises and physical exercise in general, is beneficial for people with PD.

Shall We Dance – master’s thesis  by Brittni Lynn McAlister, University of North Colorado

 In the words of one participant, the dance classes have been “. . . completely life-changing.”

Systematic review of exercises for Parkinson’s

This review revealed that people with Parkinson’s disease viewed physical activity as an enjoyable and positive experience, which aided with control of their symptoms and enhanced their wellbeing and quality of life.

 

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Almost let these references get away

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Some recent articles about music and dance – thought I had already published this – it appears not. Either that, or I’m more cognitively impaired than I thought I was. If this keeps up, I’ll have normal intelligence:

Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins 

Acronym is DOSE, and it’s a short article talking about how dance is good for you because it releases several different hormones and neurotransmitters – and not just because it makes you feel good – but because it does….😎

Language of music and psychophysical foundations  

from the abstract: “Application of music in rehabilitation medicine requires an understanding of the mechanisms of music perception. This article discusses differences in character of the basic melodic elements and addresses some of the specifics of tonal space. Colloquially, music is called the language of emotion. Bearing in mind that high-level cognitive functioning in humans is inseparable from affective consciousness, investigating the mechanisms of emotional processing belongs to an important area of cognitive sciences. Studying music perception can help to advance methods of music therapy and to elucidate major aspects of human consciousness.” (emphasis added)(Article is on ReseaechGate; membership(.

Drumming program to improve social interactions

Although the article is about subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), I think that the results are likely to be replicable with or generalizable to Parkinson’s Disease folks.

” results suggest that the children with ASD significantly improved in the domains of enjoyment and fun, and showed a positive trend for developing improved social relationships with peers and camp counselor partners.”

 

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Parkinson's, Research, Reviews , Leave a comment

Dance/movement, quality of life, and social skills, oh my!

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First, an abstract:

Use of Dance/Movement therapy for autism spectrum

“… future research must demonstrate greater scientific rigor in documenting the efficacy of DMT treatment interventions. It also found that imitation (mirroring) interventions helped individuals with ASD improve their social skills.” (Bold added) (This article was one of those reviews of published articles. The abstract does include a list of references, many of which are available online).

Next, an open access article on multidisciplinary approach:
(This sounds like another article recently posted. Would investigate, but having Parkinson’s means there’s never enough time to do everything you want to do).

Enhanced Quality of Life

Objectives: To compare the effects of inpatient enhanced multidisciplinary care (EMC) and multidisciplinary rehabilitation (MR)
on the symptoms and quality of life (QOL) of patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and to clarify the relation between reduction in
symptoms and the improved QOL. Methods: This study was a quasi-randomized controlled (alternate allocation), assessor blinded, single-center study. We recruited 80 patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease, Hoehn and Yahr stage 2 to 4, on stable
medication. Patients were included in an EMC or MR group. Both rehabilitation programs were performed for 8 weeks (17 h/wk).
Main outcome measures were Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 and Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. Results: The
EMC induced significant improvements in QOL compared to MR. We found that body axis symptoms (rising from a chair,
posture, postural stability, falling, and walking) as well as nonmotor symptoms (depression) in patients with PD were relieved by
the inpatient EMC. Conclusions: Enhanced multidisciplinary care for patients with PD appears to be effective in improving the
QOL. The improvement in motor and nonmotor symptoms, including depression, may contribute to the improved QOL.

Finally, another open access article that might be of interest to those using technology: analysis of respiration to evaluate movement.

The role of respiration audio in multimodal analysis of movement qualities

A little out in left field, but who knows?

That’s all for today, folks. Read and ponder.