NeuroTalk Support Groups - Exercise your brain

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conductor71 (Post 700508)

Funny. I did run across this in the article:

Patients with Parkinson's disease have regrown brain cells after just two months of physical exercise.

Has anyone seen any clinical study results claiming this? All I can find are that it is indicated physical exercise releases BDNF neurotrophic factor that protects dopaminergic cells.

This is a serious claim, and one that our doctors should be acting on. How many doctors tell us to exercise every day?

Laura

Laura, and everyone,

We've been to several neuros as you all know and I find it incredible that even today, after all the studies about how great exercise is for PD, that NO ONE mentions it at all. They just go through their routine, type and amount of drug taken every day, type and amount of any supplements, blah, blah, blah, and more blah.

After they do that, WE mention we are trying to bike and/or walk and we get this:

1. "oh, yes, exercise is important, that's good"
2. "exercise is the single most important self-care item you can do" (this from the head administrator of a major PD research facility
3. "keep that up as long as you are able" (gee, thanks so much for that overwhelming vote of encouragement, it's only my life we're talking about)

As we have talked about here before, YOU have to ask and YOU have to advocate for yourself and YOU even have to educate yourself on the research because most docs won't/don't/can't/won't. I'm not blaming the docs, they have to go through their rigamorole for the insurance company/medicare/medicaide, and they don't want to get sued for not jumping through the "pre approved peer hoops" as I call them. But this is our system we have right now and it's up to us to be informed and on top of things as much as possible.

I am always so encouraged when I hear stories of how PWP can move/sleep/balance/dance/knit/type, etc. better after starting an exercise program, so we should keep posting things like that to share with everyone here as a motivator. Heaven knows I have never heard any of the many, many docs we have seen tell us about a PWP moving better with exercise.