Exercise testing and training in people with Huntington's diseas

Objective: To explore exercise response in people with Huntington’s disease (HD). Design: Experimental observational study with a randomly allocated subgroup before/after interventional study. Setting: Community. Subjects: People with HD (n=30) and a healthy comparator group (n=20). Thirteen people from the HD group were randomly allocated to an exercise training program. Main measures: Heart rate (HR) and perceived exertion on the Borg-CR10 scale (RPE) during a submaximal cycle ergometer exercise test (three minute unloaded and nine minute 65%-75%HRmaximum phase). Expired air and lactate measures were available for 8 people with HD during the exercise. Intervention: A 12 week gym and home walking exercise programme (n=13). Results: People with HD achieved a lower work rate at nine minutes (82±42(0-195) v 107±35(50 -185) Watts (p<0.05)), but higher RPE at both three (3±2(0-7) v 1±1(0-4)) and nine minutes (7±3(1-10) v 5± 2(2-9)) both p