Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say that high-intensity strength training produced significant improvements in quality of life, mood and motor function in older patients with Parkinson’s disease. The findings were published Jan. 9 online in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Study participants showed significant improvement of six points on average on a measure called the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. On another measure, a seven-point fatigue scale, the group improved from a score above the clinical threshold for undue fatigue to a score below this threshold.