Aerobic Exercise and Its Effects on Parkinson Symptoms for People Over the Age of 45 years Old

Abstract Background: Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are struggling to maintain their quality of life due to their degradation of their body’s’ motor and non-motor abilities. Objectives: The purpose of this integrative literature review was to determine whether aerobic is a beneficial adjunct in improving the symptoms of people over forty-five years of age with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease as well as identifying the exact symptoms that aerobic exercise aids in alleviating. Method: An integrative literature review was conducted using the databases of Academic Search Complete, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Complete, Nursing & Allied Health (Proquest), and PubMed. All searches were performed using combinations of these key words and phrases: aerobic exercise, physical activity, Parkinson’s disease/symptoms, motor and non-motor symptoms, and physical and cognitive symptoms. Results: Aerobic exercise was found to improve four significant motor symptoms and three non-motor symptoms of PD. The four motor symptoms included movement initiation, balance, gait, and fine motor skills. The three non-motor symptoms included working memory, language, and mood. Conclusion: Further studies with larger sample sizes and longer exercise trials are needed to more accurately evaluate the positive effects of aerobic exercise. However, there seems to be a positive correlation between aerobic physical activity and an improvement in motor and non-motor symptoms of PD