 |
 |
Clinic research study suggests biking may help treat Parkinson's Disease Patients had 35% improvement in symptoms. By Ted Klopp, Newsradio WTAM 1100 Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Cleveland Clilnic Research Dr. Jay Alberts talks with Newsradio WTAM 1100's Ted Klopp. (Cleveland) - A researcher at the Cleveland Clinic has discovered what appears to be strong evidence that tandem bike riding with a Parkinson’s patient can reduce the patient’s tremors. Dr. Jay Alberts first got the idea when he shared a tandem bike on a ride to raise awareness for the disease. The patient noted how much better she felt – so Dr. Alberts did some research. He had one group of patient’s pedal on their own at 60-80% of their target heart rate zone, while the other pedaled on a tandem bike with a trainer who was responsible for keeping the bike between 80-90 RPMs. The forced exercise on the tandem bikes was faster than what the patients would do on their own – and Dr. Alberts found that tremors and other symptoms improved by about 35% after eight weeks of pedaling for an hour a day, three days a week. The study also noted that the improvement slowly went away if the patient didn’t continue this activity. Dr. Alberts is hoping to conduct clinical trials to see if this is a viable treatment. He will also use a motorized bike to see if this works as well as the tandem biking. http://www.wtam.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=&article=3959738 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn