How Exercise Helps the Brain and Body in Parkinson’s Disease (Being Patient)

Being Patient quoted John Walsh on how exercise helps various aspects of health in Parkinson’s disease. Tremors, moving slowly, stiffness, and brain processing that affects cognition, are symptoms caused by the loss of dopamine neurons in the brains of Parkinson’s patients. But repetitive, high-intensity exercise can improve connections in the brain circuitry that don’t involve dopamine, said Walsh. Furthermore, exercise causes the dopamine cells that have not yet died to work more efficiently; however, exercising cannot slow the death of dopamine neurons, he added.