The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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  • Recent Comments

    High-intensity exercise in Parkinson’s disease

    Small improvement is reported by researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

    First, the details.

    • 30 people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) diagnosed in the past 3 years with Hoehn and Yahr stage 1 or 2 (symptoms without impaired balance) were studied.
    • The were randomly assigned to high-intensity exercise, low-intensity exercise, or an education group.
    • The high-intensity group used body weight-supported treadmill training and completed 24 sessions over 8 weeks.
    • The education group attended 6 education classes over 8 weeks.
    • Low-intensity exercise was not defined in the abstract.

    And, the results.

    • There was small improvement in disease progression in all groups as measured by total and motor Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scales.
    • The high-intensity group showed increases in gait speed, step and stride length, and hip and ankle joint excursion during self-selected and fast gait.
    • The high-intensity group also had improved weight distribution during sit-to-stand tasks.
    • Improvements in gait and sit-to-stand measures were not consistently observed in low-intensity and education groups.
    • The high-intensity group showed lengthening in the cortical silent period (withdrawal of brain input to spinal nerves).

    The bottom line?
    The authors concluded that there are dose-dependent benefits of exercise, and high-intensity exercise can normalize planning, control, and execution of voluntary motor functions in early PD.”

    7/23/08 22:20 JR

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