ISLAMABAD: Exercising for at least 2.5 hours every week may help maintain physical health and quality of life for patients with Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests. Study leader Miriam R. Rafferty, Ph.D., of the Center for Education in Health Sciences at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. For this latest study, Rafferty and colleagues set out to determine how regular exercise might benefit HRQL and mobility for patients with Parkinson’s over a 2-year period. The research included 3,408 patients with Parkinson’s disease who were a part of the National Parkinson Foundation Quality Improvement Initiative (NPF-QII), which collects data on clinical care and outcomes for Parkinson’s patients at 21 sites across North America, Israel, and the Netherlands. Functional mobility was assessed using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, which times patients as they rise from a seated position, walk 3 meters, turn around, and sit back down. HRQL was self-reported through The Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Compared with patients who engaged in less than 2.5 hours of physical activity each week, those who did at least 2.5 hours of exercise weekly demonstrated a significantly slower decline in HRQL and mobility over the 2-year period. This finding was true for patients who exercised regularly from study baseline, as well as those who began exercising for at least 2.5 hours a week during follow-up. “The most important part of the study is that it suggests that people who are not currently achieving recommended levels of exercise could start to exercise today to lessen the declines in quality of life and mobility that can occur with this progressive disease,” says Rafferty. The researchers also looked at the effects of 30-minute increases in weekly exercise among patients with Parkinson’s. The team found that increasing physical activity by 30 minutes each week led to improvements in both HRQL and mobility. Interestingly, the greatest improvements in HRQL were seen among patients in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s. The researchers say this finding has important implications for making physical activity more accessible to patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease. They note that such patients may have more severe mobility impairments, making participation in current exercise programs challenging. The study was not designed to pinpoint what types of exercise are best for patients with Parkinson’s, but the authors say that engaging in any form of physical activity is better than being sedentary. Miriam R. Rafferty, Ph.D. said that “People with [Parkinson’s disease] should feel empowered to find the type of exercise they enjoy, even those with more advanced symptoms.” Heart attack risk due to loss of small blood vessels around the heart Now, new research suggests that diabetes damages the small blood vessels around the heart, and this might explain the link to heart attack. The new study – led by researchers at Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany – investigates the effect of diabetes on the small blood vessels, or capillaries, that surround the heart. Damage to these can affect the whole of the heart muscle. The heart’s network of veins and arteries and small offshoots into capillaries can be compared to a road traffic network. If one small minor road is blocked, it has little effect on the whole network. However, if more and more small side roads come to a halt, the traffic on the main roads and highways becomes denser and denser, and eventually the whole system seizes up and a heart attack ensues. The researchers suggest their findings show how diabetes can have this effect. They compared samples of heart tissue taken from patients with and without diabetes who underwent heart transplants. The samples from patients with diabetes showed that their hearts had significantly fewer small blood vessels around them. After running tests in the laboratory, the team also found high levels of blood sugar are linked to loss of pericytes – a type of cell that forms a protective layer around small blood vessels. The team believes this layer stabilizes the blood vessel and causes the blood vessels to break up when damaged The researchers also studied the effect of blood vessel loss in pigs genetically engineered to develop type 1 diabetes that is like the human form. They found the same damage occurred in their hearts. However, with the help of gene therapy, the team was able to increase production of a protein that stimulates growth of pericytes. This led to new growth of lasting and functioning small blood vessels. It will be some time before such a treatment is available for use in humans, note the researchers, who also point out how the findings reinforce the importance of diagnosing diabetes early. One in four people with diabetes do not know they have the disease. First author Dr. Rabea Hinkel, a cardiologist at TUM’s university hospital, concludes: “Diabetes often remains undetected in patients for years or even decades. Over that long period, massive damage can occur.” Spiritual retreats alter brain’s reward, emotion centers A new study sheds light on why people who attend spiritual retreats report greater psychological well-being, after finding that such retreats may increase levels of “feel-good” hormones in the brain. Co-author Dr. Andrew Newberg, director of research in the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University, and colleagues say their study provides insight into the emotional impact of spiritual practices. “Since serotonin and dopamine are part of the reward and emotional systems of the brain, it helps us understand why these practices result in powerful, positive emotional experiences,” says Dr. Newberg. Spiritual retreats can be defined as a place for people of varying spiritual beliefs to engage in practices aimed at reinforcing their faith and improving their health and well-being. According to the researchers, an increasing number of people are visiting such retreats, and studies have shown that these individuals often report a reduction in anxiety, stress, and other psychological benefits. For their study, the researchers enrolled 14 Christian adults aged 24-76 years. Subjects were required to visit an Ignatian retreat for 7 days. Here, the participants engaged in spiritual exercises created by St. Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Jesuits. Each day, the participants attended a morning mass. For the rest of the day, subjects engaged in silent contemplation, prayer, and reflection. They also met with a spiritual director, who provided spiritual guidance and information on the aims of the retreat. Before and after visiting the retreat, participants underwent DaTscan single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which enabled the researchers to assess their brain activity. Subjects also completed a series of questionnaires that assessed their physical and psychological well-being. After the 7-day retreat, participants demonstrated a 5-8 percent reduction in dopamine transporter binding, as well as a 6.5 percent reduction in serotonin transporter binding. The researchers say these decreases can lead to greater availability of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, which can have positive psychological effects. The participants also reported an increase in self-transcendence following the 7-day retreat, which the team says correlated with reductions in dopamine binding. Subjects also reported improvements in physical health, tension, and fatigue. Dr. Andrew Newberg said that “Our study showed significant changes in dopamine and serotonin transporters after the 7-day retreat, which could help prime participants for the spiritual experiences that they reported.”