SSES PhD student Anna Ferrusola-Pastrana presented her research on Parkinson’s Disease at the Future Physiology 2019 event.
On the 18th of December, Anna spoke about the research that we do at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences about Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and exercise at the event organised by the Physiological Society called Future Physiology 2019.
Anna explained her research: “PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that can present both motor and non-motor symptoms and the main aim of our research is to answer the question: Can we slow down Parkinson’s progression by joining a multi-modal exercise class? Therefore, we set up a weekly community-based exercise class. The main part of the class is a circuit with exercises specially designed to tackle the main symptoms of PD (rigidity, bradykinesia [slowness of movement], coordination and balance problems, and cognitive impairment, among others) and enhance neuroplasticity. Participants attended once-a-week for 60 minutes for over one-year. A battery of health and functional assessments were completed at the start and every four months for one, two and three years. Additionally, a battery of cognitive function assessments plus Older People’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (OPQOL-Brief) were measured.
Results were compared to an aged-matched group of Healthy Older Adults (HOA) and non-active People with Parkinson’s (na-PD) to evaluate the rate of functional and cognitive decline not influenced by the exercise session. Attending to our multimodal exercise class showed an improvement in Sit-to-Stands and in specific tests for cognitive function and no other significant changes (i.e. no decline) in health, cognition and physical function over 1, 2 and 3 years. Also, exercise reduced the difference in outcome scores between people with PD and HOA. That functional and cognitive performance were slightly increased or maintained is a positive outcome given the progressive nature of Parkinson’s”. As Parkinson’s Disease is a degenerative disease the result of no decline in health and function is very encouraging.
If you are interested in applying to study a PhD with the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences please check our PhD programme page https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/154/sport-and-exercise-science-and-sports-therapy