Greater motor reserve in long-distance skiers may help postpone onset of Parkinson's disease

[pvw2]

Quote: To better understand the relationship between physical activity and Parkinson's Disease (PD) investigators in Sweden analyzed medical records of nearly 200,000 long-distance skiers who took part in the Vasaloppet cross-country ski race. They established that a physically active lifestyle is associated with close to a 30% reduced risk for PD, which might be explained by a motor reserve among the physically active, however, this dissipates as individuals age. Their results are published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease (JPD)....

news-medical.net/news/20200...

[kaypeeoh]

I think it's a 'given' that exercise is the only thing that can lessen or maybe prevent PD. I've been a marathon runner for 35 years. I wonder if that helped me not develop PD. Even now I don't have much for symptoms beyond hand tremor. But no bradykinesia or akinesia.

[pvw2 in reply to kaypeeoh]

I was thinking the same thing. I didn't have hand tremors until 67 and still no worse at 68. What I wonder about is the statement "... this dissipates with time and increasing age and results in diagnoses of PD among skiers matching the general population." I'm wondering if this is because people tend to become less active with age. So, I'm doing the stationary bicycle everyday because it is much easier on the joints that running but can still be exhausting. It's too soon, but I'm getting indications that it's working.

[kaypeeoh in reply to pvw2]

I had the same thought. Since I'm being forced to retire it'll give me me more time to train.

[AmyLindy in reply to kaypeeoh]

Some have bladder weakness which ruins joy and freedom in running 🏃‍♀️ keep at it while u can !

[kaypeeoh in reply to AmyLindy]

The doctor prescribed Myrbetriq. That gives me good control.

[bepo in reply to AmyLindy]

Get a PEMF mat. That cures incontinence, among other things. No artificial drugs.

[LAJ12345]

I think there might be a sweet point where you exercise enough but not too much. Putting unnecessary stress on your body by running ultramarathons etc may not be as useful as doing a lesser amount every day. Just guessing.

[pvw2 in reply to LAJ12345]

That's why I shifted to stationary bicycle because it's still exhausting with less stress on the body. Swimming is probably the best if you have a year around pool available. See replies from sharoncrayn in healthunlocked.com/parkinso...

[NanCyclist in reply to pvw2]

Biking and swimming are saving my body. At 74 I'm still exercising every day, but my biking has slowed down a bit and my swimming is nothing to crow about, but I'm still doing 10 laps 20 lengths of the pool. My biking is more of the cadence of 70 to 80 and than the requested 80 to 90, but I still feel better after I do it.

[kaypeeoh in reply to LAJ12345]

I have a bucket list and assume I won't do all that's on it. One thing I wanted was to travel to Mexico to run with the Tarahumara Indians. This tribe is famous in the running world. Members have won the Leadville 100 mile trail race, wearing their sandals made from discarded tires. Members in their 80's are still running daily. Then I wanted to hike the major trails like the Pacific Crest and Appalachian trails, each over 1000 miles long.

[pvw2 in reply to kaypeeoh]

Sandals made from tires should last well. I would usually wear through the souls of running shoes after running 300 miles. If you run 12 miles a day, shoes would last less than a month. I don't know if running shoes last better now.

[pvw2]

Does an Exercise Lifestyle Before Parkinson’s Onset Affect Progression?

parkinsonsnewstoday.com/202...