THURSDAY, Oct. 8, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Movement might be key to slowing the progression of both the mental and physical degeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease, a new study says.
Parkinson’s patients with higher levels of physical activity had slower declines in both movement symptoms and thinking and memory problems, researchers reported Oct. 7 in the journal Neurology.
People with more than eight hours of physical activity each week saw the greatest benefits, researchers found.
“Our study found physical activity may have dual benefits, with associations with slower declines in movement and cognition,” lead researcher Dr. Dong-Woo Ryu of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio said in a news release.
Parkinson’s is a degenerative disorder that affects a person’s ability to move. Some patients with Parkinson’s also eventually develop problems with their thinking and memory, according to the National Institutes of Health.
For the new study, researchers tracked nearly 300 people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s for up to seven years. They had an average age of 66.
The participants reported their weekly estimated hours of physical activity at work and home, or during hobbies or recreational activities. They also took annual tests to assess their Parkinson’s symptoms and cognitive abilities.
The research team divided people into three groups, based on their total time spent moving — a low group with less than four hours per week; a medium group with four to eight hours weekly; and a high group with more than eight hours.
Results showed that the high activity group showed slower degeneration of both their movement symptoms and their ability to think and remember, even after adjusting for other factors.
Researchers also found that patients did better if they spent more time in vigorous physical exercise, which can include jogging, fast bicycling, team sports, singles tennis, shoveling dirt and carrying heavy loads.
“The possible benefits of physical activity for people with Parkinson’s disease may depend on how long they stay active and whether they continue exercising over time,” Ryu said.
These results indicate there might be some as-yet unknown link between the way Parkinson’s affects both movement and cognition, researchers concluded.
Exercise might counter Parkinson’s damage by improving blood flow to the brain, reducing inflammation in nerve cells, and enhancing the brain’s ability to change through growth and reorganization, researchers speculated in their paper.
Physical activity also is known to promote the release of biochemicals that protect the brain, researchers added.
Ryu noted that the differences observed were small, but might become more meaningful if people are tracked for longer than the seven years of this study.
“Since participants generally had good thinking and memory skills at the start of the study, our results should be interpreted with caution and further studies are needed,” Ryu said.
More information
The National Institutes of Health has more on Parkinson’s disease.
SOURCES: American Academy of Neurology, news release, Oct. 7, 2026; Neurology, Oct. 7, 2026
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