Increased Activity Could Protect Against Parkinson's Disease

Good news for a change.

Spending around an hour a day commuting, doing house work, gardening or exercising could protect against Parkinson’s Disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that even a moderate amount of activity had a significant protective effect.
People who were active for just six hours a week, less than one hours a day, were 43 per cent less likely to develop the disease.

And activity can come in many forms, say researchers, from walking to the train station or bus stop on the daily commute; exercising; playing golf; gardening; walking the dog or washing the car.

“We found that a medium level of daily total physical activity is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease,” said lead author Karin Wirdefeldt, at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

“The protective effect of physical activity was further supported when we summarized all available evidence from published prospective cohort studies.

It’s frightening to think just how many diseases and/or minor maladies sitting in desk chairs for much of the day put us at risk for.

I’m going for a walk.