How physical activity may fight Parkinson’s disease symptoms

According to recent research by UCLA scientists, exercise may help fend off early-stage Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms like worsening tremors, stiffness, and balance issues.

The study – “Physical activity affects DNA methylation-derived inflammation markers“ - was published in the July edition of the journal Brain, Behavior, & Immunity Health and was coauthored by Dr. Beate Ritz, professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and Dr. Cynthia Kusters, an assistant professor in the same department.

Researchers found that chronic inflammation happens when the immune system becomes overactive in the brain and nervous system. This can bring on PD symptoms.

“Prior research has found that a decrease in inflammation can play a crucial role in preventing or delaying the progression of PD,” says Dr. Yang Chen Hu, the study's lead author.

There is still much to learn about long-term inflammation, said Hu. However, the study findings suggest that exercise can help people with PD feel better for longer. 

Hu is an epidemiology student in Ritz' laboratory; she holds a co-appointment in the department of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Ritz was one of the study’s senior authors, as was Kusters.

“Our work takes a novel approach to studying inflammation, helping us understand how behavior and environmental exposures influence biological processes,” Kusters said. “This offers promising opportunities for studying how lifestyle factors and exposures relate to disease risk and progression.”

Conducting the study

The researchers gathered data on demographics, lifestyle and physical activity from 555 people with PD in the Parkinson’s Environment and Gene (PEG) Studies. 

This long-term research project was a joint effort of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and the UCLA Neurology Department. Its goal was to learn more about what causes the factors that contribute to PD. 

Using this data, Hu and colleagues calculated DNA-based measures that acted as stand-ins for immune system signals known as cytokines. 

Next, they compared data from physically active study participants to data from less active participants. 

This made it possible to see whether physical activity is linked to immune-related DNA markers – which is exactly what they found, according to Hu.

The findings suggest that physical activity lowers chronic inflammation, which may slow disease progression.

What this means for patients 

People with PD should consider doing higher intensity activities, such as fast walking, seated dancing or chair aerobics, if possible. 

“We found that having a higher day-to-day activity level is associated with both lower levels of pro-inflammatory signals and higher levels of anti-inflammatory signals,” Hu said.

Some of these signals have been linked to the progression of PD, he says. This points to regular physical activity being helpful in managing the condition.

Overall, Hu said, patients should know that “staying physically active could be a simple yet powerful way to improve long-term health outcomes in PD.”

Another of the study’s coauthors – Dr. Jeff Bronstein – agrees about the importance of exercise for people with PD. 

Bronstein is the director of movement disorders at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.

“We have yet to find a medication that can slow the progression of the disease,” he said. “However, we have several therapies that can improve symptoms and help maintain a high quality of life,” 

Physical activity is the one treatment that slows disease progression, but we simply do not understand how it works, he notes. 

“This study found that physical activity is associated with changes in our DNA that alters inflammation,” Bronstein said. “Inflammation may contribute to the cause of PD – and therefore, these changes in DNA might give us insight into how physical activity slows disease progression. It might also be important in other diseases as well.” 

Working together to help people with PD

All the data was collected from the PEG study, which enrolled residents from Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties in Central California. 

The PEG study brought researchers and community members together to learn more about PD. Trained professionals gathered a wide range of information, and detailed neurological examinations for PD patients were performed by UCLA movement disorder specialists at the UCLA Department of Neurology at the initial visit and at follow-up visits. 

Their expertise was crucial in confirming that participants had PD symptoms.

“Their in-depth knowledge of PD diagnosis, treatment and pathology was instrumental in interpreting some of the study’s results,” Hu said.

“Drs. Ritz and Bronstein have contributed a strong clinical perspective to the conversation, connecting the observed changes in cytokine levels to potential and meaningful differences in the progression of PD,” he said. 

Discussions with experts were key to understanding the study results, he adds, especially around the changes to immune cells like B-cells and T-cells.

“These are vital pathological alterations observed in PD patients," Hu said.