Exercise helping people with Parkinson's disease live longer
HOUSTON - "It can put years on your life if you exercise," said Penny Bryant.
The older we get, the more we need to keep moving. Especially those with Parkinson's.
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Nearly one million people in the world are living with it, more than 10 million worldwide. It's the second most common neurodegenative disease after Alzheimer's.
The cause and cure are not known.
"We used to hold hands when we said the Lord's Prayer in church," Penny said. "One Sunday morning, I held his hand, and it was shaking. It had never shook before."
Penny's husband, Jim, died four years ago. The expected life span after being diagnosed with Parkinson's was once seven to 15 years. But exercise is shown to extend lives.
"You just accept what you have, and you do the best with it that you can," Penny said. "If exercise is what we needed to do, we did exercise."
"There's been studies where people have had excellent quality of life for up to 30 years and longer," said Jena Hoofnagle, Fitness Specialist at the Buckkngham, a senior living facility. "But you can't ignore those first 10 to 20 years where you are going downhill."
Intense aerobic activity, like boxing and drumming, coupled with a mental task, like reciting the alphabet or counting backwards, can make a huge impact.
"My husband passed away from it after being diagnosed for 30 years," said Marilyn Dillard. "Little by little and not easy to watch."
But Marilyn and her daughter saw a huge difference when Gary Dillard exercised.
"He'd get up, and we'd go, 'Dad, if you do this, we will let you sit down and have a glass of wine,"" said Gary's daughter, Carolyn Dillard McKeefer. "We'd go out to the patio and that was his reward."
"The earlier you start, you can keep what you have mentally and physically," Jena said.
Gary and Jim both lived with their wives at the Buckingham.
Since April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, residents participated in a collective effort to achieve 30,000 steps to raise awareness.
"I've had cancer four times, and I've never said, "dear me, what am I going to do," said Penny. "I said, 'Ok what so we do first? Where do I go from here."