When Parkinson’s does truly start to set in, the initial stage could have loss of facial expressions, slurred and slower speech and/or arms not moving along with normal walking places. The name Parkinson’s comes from Dr. James Parkinson who in the 1800’s in London was speaking about this shaking disorder of the hands and brought attention and awareness to the condition early on.
The disease affects people differently, but one commonality is that one side of the body is affected worse than the other. For persons with Parkinson’s, the disease does progress over time, but it doesn’t happen right away or quickly. Symptoms may include any or more than one of the following:
- Bradykinesia (slowed movement): Simple tasks become harder and take longer to do. Activities like standing up from a chair can be challenging. Walking steps can turn into more of short step, shuffle, and you might drag your feet.
- Tremors: This is shaking that takes places in the limbs, usually the fingers or hands. This usually happens when not using the hands and are still.
- Writing changes: With the hands being shaky, your handwriting might change and become difficult to even do.
- Rigid muscles: The muscles start to become stiff which can limit motions and be painful.
- Change in automatic movements: These are things like blinking or smiling that you unconsciously do. They start to decrease.
- Changes in posture and/or balance: You may stoop over, and balance can become an issue.
Other complications might happen as well. These include difficulty swallowing which affect eating and chewing, bladder problems and/or constipation, and trouble sleeping.
There are certain causes and risk factors for having Parkinson’s; however, the exact cause is unknown. The disease happens because brains cells (neurons) start breaking down. Now messaging that those neurons are responsible for start to get lost or not sent, so dopamine levels decrease. When dopamine levels decrease, brain activity becomes atypical, hence the symptoms of Parkinson’s start to set in.
Other than possible gene changes or possible environmental factors, there’s no certainty for cause. Men are more at risk and persons aged 60 and older are more at risk. Heredity really only plays a factor if many people in one’s family have Parkinson’s.
There are a few different types of exercises that can be beneficial for Parkinson’s. The best home/occupational therapy exercises include the standing single-leg raise and wrist curls. For the standing single-leg exercise, the person should stand near a chair or an area that they can rely on for fall prevention by slightly holding onto it during the exercise. A personal trainer or friend can also be of support. This exercise involves flexibility, concentration, balance and core stabilization. The person raises one leg to the bent 90-degree position, tries to hold this stance for a two second count, then lowers the foot down to the starting position. This can be repeated for 10-12 repetitions (more or less based on the candidate) for 3 or more sets. Hand exercises like wrist curls are good to help reduce tremors, work on steadiness and to work on dexterity. Using light dumbbells or even water bottles, the person curls their wrist towards their fingers for 10-12 repetitions for two to three sets or more depending on the person.
The current client I’m training who has Parkinson’s mainly struggles with tremors and balance. She is very apprehensive to stand on one foot, but with practice has greatly improved. One side needs more development than the other. Her tremors make holding weights difficult, so we are using water bottles for now. Because she has underestimated her abilities and fallen into somewhat of a depression due to the condition, her muscles have atrophied. However, her comeback has been inspiring, and she can now get up and down off the floor with much better mobility as her flexibility, strength and confidence all improve each workout.
Holding yoga poses is another form of exercise that works on balance, stabilization, concentration and working through in the body and controlling tremors. For example, working through the Warrior series of poses is a good challenge to track progression and improvement with. Aerobically, doing non-contact boxing with different types of punches works on coordination, connecting mind and body, getting the heart rate up and the blood pumping. It can feel empowering to someone who has felt lack of control of their body and the movement patterns without their consent. Personal trainers are sometimes put in positions to work with special populations, so understanding what exercises to incorporate into program design is important.
Since the cause of Parkinson’s is still unknown, treatment is based on the candidate and severity of progression. There are now medications available and even surgical options. Burning tissue in the brain is type of lesion surgery that targets specific areas in the brain that are causing tremors. This might even be done while the person is awake to find the exact locations that are affecting movement. Tissue transplants or neural graphing can be done to help replace malfunctioning parts of the brain. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is another approach where small electrodes are placed in the areas of the brain that control movement. The device is placed near the chest under the skin and the stimulator remains turned on.
About 1.5 million Americans have Parkinson’s. Living with the disease is difficult and life-changing, so research and a cure is in dire need. As a person ages, this is no way to experience quality of life. Medicine makes daily progress towards discovers that help us all, so hopefully sooner rather than later Parkinson’s will be on the list of curable diseases.
Dr. Megan Johnson McCullough, is a Doctor of Health and Human Performance. She received her M.A. in Education – Physical Education and Health Science. Megan has been personal training for 14 years and coaching since 2007. Megan is an elite NASM Master Trainer and professional natural bodybuilder. She is certified from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and the National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association (NESTA). Megan also holds titles of Corrective Exercise Specialist, Drug & Alcohol Recovery Fitness Specialist, Fitness Nutrition Specialist and Senior Fitness Specialist. Megan is a Wellness Coach as well as a Lifestyle and Weight Management Specialist. Visit www.everybodysfitoceanside.com and www.mindfulbodysrecovery.com.
