- I'VE PLAYED ON A LOT OF SOFTBALL TEAMS,
AND I HUNT AND FISH,
AND I KIND OF GAVE ALL THAT UP.
- HE WAS ALWAYS A REALLY QUICK, ACTIVE PERSON.
AND AFTER HE GOT PARKINSON'S, IT KIND OF SLOWED THINGS DOWN.
- PROBABLY THE BIGGEST THING WAS I TENDED TO JUST DRAW BACK.
- IT'S LIKE AGING BEFORE YOUR TIME, YOU KNOW?
AND YOUR MIND WANTS TO DO THINGS THAT YOUR BODY WON'T LET YOU.
- HE HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH FREEZING OF GAIT.
- IT WOULD BE LIKE YOUR LEG, YOUR FEET WOULD BE IN CONCRETE.
AND IT'S SET UP, AND YOU TRY TO MOVE OUT OF IT, AND YOU CAN'T.
THEN WHEN YOU FINALLY BREAK OUT,
YOU START STEPPING, AND DOWN YOU GO.
- HE WAS SOMEONE THAT WAS FALLING EVERY DAY.
THERE'S ACTUALLY 3 WAYS THAT EXERCISE CAN REALLY HELP PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE.
ONE IS BY PREVENTION,
ONE IS BY COMPENSATION,
AND ONE IS BY NEUROPLASTICITY.
AND SO WHEN YOU THINK OF PREVENTION,
I THINK EXERCISE IS IMPORTANT FOR PREVENTING THINGS THAT HAPPEN
BECAUSE WE'RE INACTIVE, LIKE HEART DISEASE OR BACK PAIN
OR DEPRESSION.
WHEN WE THINK OF COMPENSATION,
EXERCISE CAN HELP YOU WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE COMPENSATE
BY FINDING OTHER WAYS TO DOING MOVEMENTS THAT ARE DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO MOVE.
BY PRACTICING THOSE ACTIVITIES, LIKE WITH A THERAPIST OR A TRAINER,
YOUR BRAIN CAN FIND COMPENSATORY PATHWAYS
OR OTHER WAYS TO DO THE JOB AND TO DO IT SAFELY.
AND THEN WHEN IT COMES TO NEUROPLASTICITY,
EXERCISE IS REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE WE THINK IT CHANGES THE BRAIN.
- WHEN I WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL,
IT WAS THOUGHT THAT YOUR BRAIN WAS WHAT YOU GOT AT BIRTH
AND ALL YOU SUFFERED WERE LOSSES THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE AS NEURONS DIED.
FIRST THING IS, I'M GONNA HAVE YOU JUST DO THIS FOR ME.
BUT NOW IT'S RECOGNIZED THAT THE BRAIN CAN CHANGE AND IS CHANGING THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE,
AND WE KNOW THE BRAIN CHANGES WITH EXERCISE.
- SO NOW PEOPLE ARE THINKING, "MAYBE THIS CAN ACTUALLY SLOW DOWN THE PROGRESS
OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE."
PEOPLE WHO WORK WITH, FOR INSTANCE, MICE THAT ARE EXERCISING,
WHAT THEY CAN DO IS ASK QUESTIONS WE CAN'T ANSWER--
LIKE, "EXACTLY WHICH NEURONS IN THE BRAIN ARE CHANGING WITH THE EXERCISE
AND HOW ARE THEY CHANGING?"
- WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE BRAIN,
AND ONLY IN ANIMAL MODELS CAN YOU REALLY GO AHEAD AND DO THIS.
THESE MICE HAVE BEEN TREATED WITH THE TOXIN THAT PRODUCES THE PARKINSON'S DISEASE.
SO WHAT WE DO IS WE EXERCISE THE ANIMALS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME,
AND WE THEN DETERMINE IF THE EXERCISE IS EFFECTIVE OR NOT.
WHAT WE'RE HOPING IS THAT WITH OUR MOUSE MODEL
THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY SHOW THAT EXERCISE CAN SLOW DOWN THE PROGRESSION OF THE DISEASE.
WE HOPE THAT WITH US FINDING OUT HOW THE BRAIN REACTS TO EXERCISE,
WE CAN THEN TRANSLATE THIS TO THE CLINIC.
- CLINICAL RESEARCHERS LIKE MYSELF CAN HAVE SIMILAR TYPES OF EXERCISE IN PEOPLE,
AND NOW WE CAN MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE BRAIN.
- MORNING. - HELLO.
- I'M HERE TO SEE RON. - OK.
- AT 2:00.
- MR. BOYD WAS PART OF AN EXERCISE STUDY
THAT WAS LOOKING AT VARIOUS FORMS OF EXERCISE
AND LOOKING AT HOW IT AFFECTED BOTH THEIR PARKINSON'S DISEASE
BUT ALSO THEIR MOBILITY,
AND THAT IS THEIR GAIT AND BALANCE.
- I WENT IN A LOT OF STUDIES...
HOPING THAT SOMETHING WOULD POP,
AND THEY NOT NECESSARILY STOP IT, BUT THEY SLOW IT DOWN.
- LET'S TRY THIS.
- ON THE FIRST MONDAY WHEN I STARTED,
I THOUGHT, "THIS IS GONNA BE TOUGH."
'CAUSE I CAN'T STAND ON A BALL AND BALANCE YOURSELF
AND I HAVE TO PUT ONE LEG UP AND PUT THE OTHER ONE DOWN SLOW.
BUT I CAN.
- HOLD YOUR WEIGHT ON THE FRONT FOOT,
MAKE SURE IT'S THERE.
THEN, HANDS APART, SLOW STEP. NICE!
- WE HAD SPECIALIZED INERTIAL SENSORS...
I'M GONNA PUT ONE ON YOUR LEFT WRIST AS WELL
SO WE CAN SEE WHAT KIND OF ARM MOVEMENTS YOU HAVE WHEN YOU WALK.
THAT WE PUT ON HIS LEGS AND HIS ARMS AND HIS BODY.
AND WE USE THOSE TO MEASURE HOW THE BODY MOVES.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN HE WAS STANDING AS STILL AS HE COULD,
WE WOULD USE ONE OF THE SENSORS ON HIS BELT
TO MEASURE HIS POSTURAL SWAY.
ALL RIGHT. YOU ABLE TO CLOSE YOUR EYES?
WE COULD MEASURE AMOUNT OF BODY SWAY BEFORE EXERCISE
AND THEN AFTER THE EXERCISE PROGRAM.
THEN WHEN HE WAS WALKING,
WE SAID, "HOW BIG WERE HIS STEPS?"
AND HOW MUCH WAS HE SWINGING HIS ARMS?
HOW MUCH WAS HIS TRUNK ROTATING WHEN HE WAS WALKING?
AND WE EXPECT WITH IMPROVEMENT OF HIS BALANCE
THAT WE WOULD SEE IMPROVEMENT IN THESE MEASURES.
THE BLUE AREA HERE IS YOUR FORWARD AND BACKWARD SWAY AND YOUR LEFT AND RIGHT SWAY
WHEN YOU COULD USE YOUR EYES AND YOUR FEET,
BECAUSE YOU WERE ON THE FIRM SURFACE.
AFTER THIS PROGRAM OF 4 WEEKS OF WORKING INTENSELY WITH THE PHYSICAL THERAPIST,
HE HASN'T FALLEN SINCE,
AND HE FEELS LIKE HE'S A LOT MORE LIGHT ON HIS FEET.
HE DOESN'T HAVE AS MUCH FREEZING.
HE'S ABLE TO MAKE TURNS AND STEP BACKWARDS WITHOUT LOSING HIS BALANCE.
SO HE REALLY FEELS LIKE THE EXERCISE PROGRAM HAS DONE HIM A LOT OF GOOD.
- FOR A MONTH, ALL I DID WAS JUST STRETCHING AND TAI CHI AND BOXING,
AND THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE.
- I LOVED WATCHING JIM WITH THE PHYSICAL THERAPIST,
AND I SAW HIM DO ALL THE EXERCISES.
I WAS, LIKE, AMAZED AT HOW WELL HE DID.
- I FEEL LIKE I'M MORE PLIABLE.
I DON'T HAVE THE GAIT OF A PARKINSON'S PERSON RIGHT NOW.
- THE EXERCISE STUDIES OFTENTIMES ARE REALLY EFFECTIVE
AT ESTABLISHING A HABIT.
- IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN DO AND SAY,
"WELL, I'LL SEE A PHYSICAL THERAPIST FOR A FEW WEEKS AND THEN I'M DONE."
IT'S A LIFETIME CHANGE WHERE EXERCISE HAS BECOME PART OF THE ROUTINE
OF YOUR DAILY LIFE.
- MR. BOYD HAS HAD A COMMITMENT TO EXERCISE
WHICH, I THINK, HAS MADE HIS PARKINSON'S DISEASE
MUCH LESS OF A RESTRICTION ON HIS LIFESTYLE,
AND I ADMIRE HIS ABILITY TO EXERCISE,
AND I THINK IT'S REALLY HELPING HIM.
- I THINK HE'S DOING AN EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD JOB.
I THINK HE'S VERY MOTIVATED. HE WORKS REALLY HARD.
AND HE HAS FAMILY THAT ENCOURAGES HIM AND HELPS HIM AND EXERCISES WITH HIM.
- HE ALSO HAS A VERY SUPPORTIVE SPOUSE.
- I GUESS IT'S MY TURN TO CHEER HIM ON
'CAUSE HE'S BEEN MY CHEERLEADER AND HE BELIEVES IN ME.
[VOICE QUAVERING] - I COULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT HER.
WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE WE WERE 16.
SO SHE KNOWS ALL ABOUT ME AND I KNOW ALL ABOUT HER.
- THE 4 THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT IN AN EXERCISE PROGRAM
ARE STRENGTHENING, CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS,
STRETCHING, AND AGILITY AND BALANCE.
- I STRETCH EVERY MORNING, THEN I'LL DO SOME TAI CHI.
THEN WE EITHER GO ON A WALK OR I'LL GO TO THE GYM.
MY GOAL WAS 6 DAYS, THEN I TALKED TO DR. NUTT,
AND HE SAID, "THAT'S GOOD. LET'S DO IT 7."
- I PUSH EXERCISE ON PATIENTS
JUST BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT DOES IN CONTROLLED CLINICAL SETTINGS.
- I GUESS I HAVE THIS BASIC BELIEF THAT YOU'RE CHANGING THE BRAIN JUST AS MUCH
OR MORE WITH EXERCISE AS YOU ARE WITH MEDICATION.
- SO THE MAGNITUDE OF THE IMPROVEMENT WITH EXERCISE
IS LARGER THAN SOME OF THE DRUGS THAT ARE MARKETED.
- THERE'S NO SIDE EFFECTS. THERE'S ONLY BENEFITS.
- SO IF I CAN WARD OFF THESE SYMPTOMS BY EXERCISING,
WHAT A BETTER DEAL.
YOU CAN SIT AROUND AND HAVE PARKINSON'S AND WITHER AWAY,
OR YOU CAN GIVE THE TOOLS THAT YOU'VE BEEN GIVEN
AND DO EXERCISE AND STRETCHING AND IT PAYS OFF.
YOU KNOW, WHAT A DEAL.
- IT CAN KEEP YOU HEALTHY AND STRONGER AND MOVING,
AND IT'S WORTH EVERY MINUTE THAT YOU INVEST IN IT.
- EXERCISE CLEARLY IMPROVES PARKINSON'S DISEASE.
IT REDUCES THE SEVERITY OF THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE.
- IT MAKES A HUMONGOUS DIFFERENCE.
YOU FEEL REJUVENATED.
- HE'S MORE LIKE HIS OLD SELF.
IT'S KIND OF LIKE TURNING BACK THE TIME.
- LOTS OF STUFF THAT'S BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM ME HAS COME BACK.
[VOICE QUAVERING] IT'S NOT EASY BEING LOCKED UP INSIDE YOURSELF...
AND I'M NOT NOW.