Cycling Provides a Break for Some With Parkinson’s

Recently, Dr Bastiaan R Bloem, a professor of neurology and medical director of the hospital's Parkinson's Center, was intrigued by a 58 year-old man from the Netherlands who suffered from Parkinson's disease for 10 years, but was able to ride a bicycle. Parkinson's affects the brain by killing the cells that control movement. The man was freezing his movements after every few steps before riding the bike as well. His disease had progressed to where it was severely affecting his life. However, the man claims to be a regular exerciser, which is not supposed to be possible for a man at his stage in his disease, according to Dr. Bloem. While riding the bike, it appeared as though all the man's symptoms were gone. When he stepped off the bike, all his symptoms returned.

Dr. Bloem then asked 20 other severly affected patients to ride a bike and all could do it. It is not clear why this is possible. Sometimes people with Parkinson's are able to dance, run, walk smoothly, or do complex movements for a bit when given appropriate signals, such as emotional or visual cues. An example is when there was a fire, some Parkinson's patients were able to run down steps and escape, but froze when they got outside. This effect is formally known as the kinesia paradox. It does not last for very long. Dr. Bloem says that bicycling can offer patients an opportunity to be symptom-free as well as get some real cardiovascular exercise.

Dr. Bloem says that an explanation for this may be that bicycling uses a different part of the brain than walking and might not be as severely affected by Parkinson's disease. It also could be that the rhythmic pressure of the pedals on the patient's feet cues the nervous system to allow a cycling movement. He hopes that regular exercise might cause the progession of the disease to slow down. He proved that his theory applied to rats. However, he is currently running a clinical trial with 600 patients to see if exercise can slow down the disease in humans.

I found this article interesting because of my device design project on Parkinson's disease. I also like Dr. Bloem's innovative approach to slowing down the symptoms and progression of the disease.

found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/health/01parkinsons.html?ref=research

Sarah Biemer
VTPP 435-502