A moderate level of physical activity every day may lower the risk for Parkinson disease, according to a study published online ahead of print in Brain: A Journal of Neurology. The effect was especially notable for men.
Senior author Karin Wirdefeldt, MD, PhD, and colleagues followed 43,368 persons over an average of 12.6 years, during which 286 men and women received a Parkinson diagnosis. The researchers found among men an inverse association between Parkinson disease and total physical activity, the sum of household, commuting, and leisure-time exercise, and physical activity specifically resulting from housework and commuting. The results of the analysis were less clear for women.
Upon performing an additional analysis of data from this study and 5 other prospective studies, Wirdefeldt’s team determined an inverse association between physical activity and risk for Parkinson disease in both men and women, but the data only had borderline significance in women.
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