wendy,
on one hand you say these studies need to be replicated and reviewed, on the other hand you want to see ALBERTS results before they have been reviewed?

it's an absolute no no to leak any results before the study is finished. of course, they can halt the study early if the results are fantastic and get the results out sooner but i doubt it, this isn't a life/death treatment.
i can only relate my experience and i think playing soccer delayed my progression, i delayed taking meds for 5 years, once i stopped playing i declined much more rapidly. of course, i stopped playing because i was getting worse so hard to say.

think about it, your body doesn't know your're cycling, it just knows your heart rate is up, your metabolism is up, your're moving large mucsles and breathing heavily. yet if you search on exercise in this forum, you'll see articles saying less vigorous exercise are superior than vigorous exercise.

I value Soccertese's description of the benefits that he feels he had from soccer. I'm sorry that he had to give it up. He is right to share with us his anecdote. In the same way, I hope people value posts describing experiences of forced exercise.

We are all faced with the need to make decisions, often with incomplete and, although we don't know it at the time, what turns out to be incorrect information. Sometimes we have the luxury of putting off a decision until the evidence is clear, sometimes we don't. Sometimes the magnitude of making a wrong decision is such that only the best data will do, sometimes the consequences of a poor decision are so low that even poor data will be sufficient.

In the context of exercise and Parkinson's, my experience (and different people will have different experiences) is that, inspite of the normal exercise I do, my Parkinson's is getting steadily worse at a rate where, in certain circumstances (contingent on the quality of the evidence, the risks and the costs) I'm prepared to investigate therapies before they become mainstream. Forced exercise is one of these. It is not of the seriousness of DBT, say. It's not all or nothing, you can try it and see whether it suits you. Cost was not a problem since I was able to build my own system.

My results so far are mixed: arm movement improved, but tremor worse. Whether there is a causal link, I don't know. Whether the same results would apply to other people I don't know. My hunch, based on limited data, is that:
- exercise is better than no exercise;
- only normal exercise is better than only forced exercise;
- normal exercise plus forced exercise is better than only normal exercise.

John

soccertese, I do contradict myself, don't I! I guess I think I have enough of a science background to review it myself, but that doesn't help anyone else, does it. I'm not feeling patient these days, and it can take a long time between the official end of study and the actual publication in a journal. I do lots of exercise, but it's not slowing progression the way I'd really like something to.

If it was easy and/or cheap to do this forced cycling myself, I'd just go ahead, but I don't know anyone who could ride with me, and I don't want to spend that much on a Theracycle without good reason. I'm trying to figure out how I could rig up my own bike inside on a stand and provide some kind of electrical assist, but haven't come up with an answer yet. I do know that I can't do 80-90 rpm on my own for more than a few minutes right now without going over the 70% of my recommended heart rate (I think that's the figure). If I come up with a brilliant idea, I'll post it here. johnt, you used a power drill for the assist for your arms, didn't you? Any ideas about adapting that to a bike or would it take too much out of the drill? I'll have to go back and read your posts.

have you looked at this? i don't think forced exercise claims to do anything but temporarily reduce symptoms, not slow progression.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...007#post801007

Hi Wendy,
Sorry I have a 2 yr olds attention span so haven't reviewed all the different webpages mentioned in this posting.
What I'm certain of though is my new exercise bike is much more comfortable than a previous one I had and comes with lots of buttons to press if I want to know how far I've gone, pulse rate etc etc.
It was a lot cheaper than what I thought it would be and I'm really enjoying using it.
For arm exercise though perhaps a crosstrainer would be more suitable than a bike and you can benefit from leg and arm movement in the one machine.

All,
Upto a year ago, 4 years afters after diagnosis, I could not achieve more than 15 minutes cycling at about 60 rpm. At about that time I was drawn to research related to the benefits of coconut oil to Alzimer and I started taking virgin coconut (having 60% MCT) up to 3 table spoons before starting my exercise. Soon after I noted gradual increase in my stamina and power and a year after (now) I cycle for 45 mins at a speed of 80 to 100 rpm without exceeding my comfort zone.
I know very well that this sounds like a fairy tale and the increase in my stamina may be attributed to other reasons that escaped my attention !??
I had started a thread about coconut oil in October 2010 which may be interesting to you:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ht=imad+eureka
Cheers and good luck
Imad

I am new to this forum but not new to Parkinson's. I have always exercised my whole live. When I was diagnosed just over five years ago (symptoms began 2 years earlier). I continued to work my Regional Mangers job, traveling, being in front of customers. I slowly got sicker and weaker. I went back to Neurologist at the university medical center and she convince me it was time to focus on myself, so I stopped working and focused my energy on exercise, you name it I have it, treadmill, bowflex, yoga equipment, bike, free weights, etc. Even though I was exercising each day, weakness continued on my right side.
I was taking all the meds, vitamins and supplements. I had to do something, so I went on the internet just like the rest of you and found the study by Dr. Alberts. I was very curious so I sent it to my sister in law who is a Doctor with a specialty in Occupational Medicine and well as a Master in Public Health and works for the CDC and does my bother.
Both read the Report and passed it around to get others opinion. What I got back was positive but wait and see a little longer. After another 6 months of continued weakness and balance issues. I talked to the people at the CLeveland Clinic and got their input.
While I agree, the price is high, I felt I would try the Theracycle and take their 30 day guarantee. I still have the bike and use it almost everyday. I have also added 5 lb weights to each leg (thigh area), It took about a month before I made it to 15 mph for 60 minutes. I use the handle bars which you can push and pull yourself which gives a great upper body work out.
I would never give this bike up !!!!
I can discuss why the insurance companies won't pay for it and what it takes to have a piece of equipment like this be given a medical code number.
Having had over 30 surgeries in the past 20 years because of a drunk driver,having to contend with head injuries etc from the drunk driver. I am always reading and looking for whatever can help me get back what I lost by this man.
I am thankful and grateful beyond words for the work Dr. Alberts has done and for the company that manufactures the Theracycle. If has made a great difference in my health including Parkinson's. I take less medicine, have better leg strength, better balance and stong upper body. The tremors have been greatly reduced. My neurologist could not believe the difference in my balance, ablility to walk straight, stronger all the way around. I am her second patient that uses the Theracycle (she is 70 and I am 61) and we are both doing very well. If you meet me you would never know I have Parkinson's.