Research for Activity and Exercise as Part of Living with Parkinson's

This reference list accompanied a Parkinson's physical activity and exercise course. It covers general Parkinson's awareness as well as research about physical activity, exercise, falls, behaviour change and neuroplasticity.

The references provide background reading rather than a prescription for any individual or evidence that every finding applies specifically to pickleball. Some research is observational or based on small studies, and the evidence continues to develop. People living with Parkinson's should choose activity that suits them and seek advice from an appropriate healthcare professional when needed.

Part 1: Parkinson's awareness

1. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2017). Parkinson's disease in adults: diagnosis and management (NG71).

2. Wu T and Hallett M (2013). “The cerebellum in Parkinson's disease.” Brain, 136, 696–709.

3. Segura-Aguilar J et al. (2014). “Protective and toxic roles of dopamine in Parkinson's disease.” Journal of Neurochemistry, 129, 898–915.

4. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). Parkinson's disease: prognosis.

5. Trinh J and Farrer M (2013). “Advances in the genetics of Parkinson disease.” Nature Reviews Neurology, 9, 445–454.

6. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). Parkinson's disease: definition.

7. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2016). When to suspect Parkinson's disease.

8. Adler CH (2002). “Relevance of motor complications in Parkinson's disease.” Neurology, 58, S51–S56.

9. Kleiner-Fisman G, Martine R et al. (2011). “Development of a non-motor fluctuation assessment instrument for Parkinson disease.” Parkinson's Disease, 2011, 292719.

10. Fackrell R, Carroll CB, Grosset DG, Mohamed B, Reddy P, Parry M, Chaudhuri KR and Foltynie T (2018). “Noninvasive options for ‘wearing-off’ in Parkinson's disease: a clinical consensus from a panel of UK Parkinson's disease specialists.” Neurodegenerative Disease Management, 8(5), 349–360.

11. Dorsey ER et al. (2018). “The emerging evidence of the Parkinson pandemic.” Journal of Parkinson's Disease, 8(1), S3–S8.

12. Pringsheim T et al. (2014). “The prevalence of Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Movement Disorders, 29, 1583–1590.

13. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). Confirmed Parkinson's disease: motor symptoms and complications.

14. Ginis P et al. (2017). “Cueing for people with Parkinson's disease with freezing of gait: a narrative review of the state of the art and novel perspectives.” Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 61(6), 407–413.

15. NHS (2017). Low blood pressure (hypotension): symptoms.

16. British National Formulary (2020). Drugs used in Parkinson's disease and related disorders. MedicinesComplete.

17. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). Confirmed Parkinson's disease: non-motor symptoms and complications.

18. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2020). Depression: diagnosis.

19. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2020). Depression: risk factors.

20. Dissanayaka NNW, Sellbach A et al. (2010). “Anxiety disorders in Parkinson's disease: prevalence and risk factors.” Movement Disorders, 25, 838–845.

21. Ehgoetz Martens KA et al. (2014). “Does anxiety cause freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease?” PLOS ONE, 9, e106561.

22. NHS (2020). Symptoms of dementia.

23. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2016). Dementia: assessment of suspected dementia.

24. Molina Ruiz RM, Evans AH, Velakoulis D and Looi JCL (2016). “Neuropsychiatric manifestations of Parkinson's disease.” Australasian Psychiatry, 24(6), 529–533.

25. Grosset D, Fernandez H et al. (2009). Parkinson's Disease: Clinician's Desk Reference. Manson Publishing, pp. 18–19 and 59–68.

26. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). Parkinson's disease: summary.

27. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). Parkinson's disease: dementia and cognitive impairment.

28. NHS (2019). Obsessive compulsive disorder: symptoms.

29. Antonini A and Cilia R (2009). “Behavioural adverse effects of dopaminergic treatments in Parkinson's disease: incidence, neurobiological basis, management and prevention.” Drug Safety, 32, 475–488.

30. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). End-stage Parkinson's disease.

31. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (2018). Confirmed Parkinson's disease: routine review in primary care.

32. NHS (2019). Parkinson's disease: treatment.

33. NHS (2019). Parkinson's disease.

34. UK Chief Medical Officers (2019). Physical activity guidelines. UK Government.

35. Strain T, Fitzsimons C, Foster C, Mutrie N, Townsend N and Kelly P (2016). “Age-related comparisons by sex in the domains of aerobic physical activity for adults in Scotland.” Preventive Medicine Reports, 3, 90–97.

36. LaMonte MJ, Lewis CE, Buchner DM, Evenson KR, Rillamas-Sun E, Di CZ et al. (2017). “Both light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity measured by accelerometry are favourably associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in older women: the OPACH study.” Journal of the American Heart Association, 6(10), e007064.

37. Füzéki E, Engeroff T and Banzer W (2017). “Health benefits of light-intensity physical activity: a systematic review of accelerometer data from NHANES.” Sports Medicine, 47(9), 1769–1793.

46. European Parkinson's Disease Association (2020). Wearing off and motor fluctuations.

Part 2: benefits of physical activity and exercise

38. Fisher BE, Li Q, Nacca A, Salem GJ, Song J, Yip J, Hui JS, Jakowec MW and Petzinger GM (2013). “Treadmill exercise elevates striatal dopamine D2 receptor binding potential in patients with early Parkinson's disease.” NeuroReport, 24(10), 509–514.

39. Shih I-F, Liew Z, Krause N and Ritz B (2016). “Lifetime occupational and leisure-time physical activity and risk of Parkinson's disease.” Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 28, 112–117.

40. Johansson H, Hagströmer M, Grooten WJA and Franzén E (2020). “Exercise-induced neuroplasticity in Parkinson's disease: a metasynthesis of the literature.” Neural Plasticity, 2020, 8961493.

41. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018). Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report.

42. Samdal GB, Eide GE, Barth T, Williams G and Meland E (2017). “Effective behaviour change techniques for physical activity and healthy eating in overweight and obese adults: systematic review and meta-regression analyses.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14, 42.

43. Golbidi S and Laher I (2012). “Exercise and the cardiovascular system.” Cardiology Research and Practice, 2012, 210852.

44. Pelicioni PHS, Menant JC, Latt MD and Lord SR (2019). “Falls in Parkinson's disease subtypes: risk factors, locations and circumstances.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(12), 2216.

45. American College of Sports Medicine (2018). ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 10th edition. Wolters Kluwer, p. 353.

Further learning

For a course that draws on this area of practice, see Parkinson's UK's Movement Matters: Parkinson's and exercise.