The effects of mountain exercise in Parkinsonian persons – a preliminary study

Persons suffering from Parkinson’s disease (PD) show variable motor manifestations such as gait dysfunction and hypokinesia as well as psychosocial manifestations like emotional and social impairment. In order to assess short- and midterm impact on PD persons from a comprehensive training concept, we launched a study with daily walks in the Swedish mountains during 1 summer week. The 3–6 km daily walking tours in hilly terrain were combined with lectures about the disease and self-training, social intercourse and a general encouraging atmosphere brought about by three accompanying leaders. The participants stayed in a mountain pension during the week. Nineteen mild to moderate PD persons volunteered and were assessed before (0 weeks), immediately after (1 week), and 4 months later (18 weeks) by a self-reporting questionnaire containing four subscales. These covered the domains PD symptoms, systemic symptoms, emotional functioning, and social functioning. There was a general improvement in PD scores at 1 week compared to baseline. This was not sustained at the 18-week follow-up. We postulate the results were due to a combination of information, professional guidance, exercise in hilly terrain with environmental visual cues, social interaction, and comparison with the others. Further research should aim at pinpointing the most essential components to achieve short- as well as midterm improvements. We believe there is a need to focus on patients’ self-reported health to a greater extent than today in order to complement traditional rehabilitation and training outcome measures.