Hiking Can Benefit Parkinson's Patients

While there are many activities that benefit Parkinson's disease patients, there are a few who wonder whether or not if hiking can help ease symptoms Parkinson's. This very simple activity involves a lot of walking and jogging over distances. While it may be easy and not require much skill, this activity can be of great use for those who do not work out often. Not only that, but it also offers a patient the exposure of a beautiful environment.

Parkinson’s patients wonder whether to ease the symptoms hiking should be done or not. Hiking involves over distances jogging and walking. For those who do not work out very often for them hiking can be of great use. The person can get exposed to a beautiful environment outside.

The benefits are:

Patients balance can improve- especially for people with Parkinson’s disease; they can gain a lot of benefit from exercise. Physically it can keep them active. It helps to improve their balance. Leg muscle strength can be built up by rough and uneven routes. It can improve endurance and also reflexes.

Improves bone density- since hiking deals with the ability of the body to bear weight thus the density of the bones can be improved by hiking. The occurrences of osteoporosis can be prevented. Also the risks of the patient falling can be reduced.

Reduce depression- hiking can be done in a group with friends. It is a great exercise. With friends and families it should be carried out and in the patient it helps reduce depression. People with Parkinson’s disease commonly experience depression. It is important to get a lifelong support from family and friends and social lifestyle also should be rich in combating depression. To your routine exercises, add hiking and see the difference it would make to your health.

Parkinson’s disease progresses slowly. It is a neurodegenerative disease. In some cases, it may take years to develop the disease and some may live with the disease for years. In this disease dopamine is not produced by the brain. Dopamine is important for regulating motion and emotions and it is a neurotransmitter. Till now there is no cure as such for the disease but to improve the quality of life the patient has to engage in a number of activities.

In the enteric nervous system the signs of Parkinson’s are manifested. It is also manifested in the medulla especially the olfactory bulb that controls the smell. In order to detect the disease as early as possible the researchers focus more on non-motor symptoms so that the progression can be prevented.

Mild symptoms are shown in stage one. These do not affect the daily activities. Only one side of the body, the tremors and other associated symptoms occur. People may notice changes in facial expressions and posture.

The symptoms become worse in stage two. Both the sides are affected by tremors, rigidity and other associated symptoms.

In the next stage the movement becomes sluggish and there is loss of balance. In this phase the person although can stay alone but may find difficulty in dressing and eating.

The amount of activities can get limited as the disease progresses. Without any help patient can stand but requires walker. To carry out daily activities the patient needs assistance.

The next stage is the most advanced stage. Stiffness in the leg is experienced and it might become impossible to walk or stand. Some may require wheel chair while some may become bedridden. For all the activities assistance is required for 24 hours. Most likely delusions and hallucinations may occur. Although many non-motor symptoms may appear but symptoms associated with motion may dominate.