Healthy eating and exercise are associated with reduced mortality from Parkinson's disease

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Diet and Exercise Associated with Reduced Mortality in Parkinson Disease

Healthy eating and exercise are associated with reduced mortality from Parkinson's disease

Review by Michael S.
Okun, MD

Can healthy eating and exercise improve outcomes in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD)? The answer may be yes
.

The study focused on male participants in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2012) and female participants in the Nurses' Health Study (1984-2012
).
。 Dietary quality is measured by the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), and exercise is measured by a validated questionnaire that translates to metabolic equivalence (MET
).
Mortality was the primary outcome measure
.

During follow-up, 1,251 participants (52.
1% were male) were diagnosed with PD
.
A higher-quality diet (which was measured before and after the diagnosis of PD) was associated with lower mortality (highest vs.
lowest AHEI quartile-corrected risk ratio, 0.
69; 95% CI, 0.
56 to 0.
85 before diagnosis; 0.
57; 95% CI, 0.
42 to 0.
78 after diagnosis).

Exercise levels before the diagnosis of PD (maximum vs.
lowest quartile cumulative mean weekly MET risk ratio, 0.
71) and after diagnosis (risk ratio, 0.
47) were negatively associated
with mortality.
The combined effects of diet and exercise on PD-specific mortality were also evident (pre-diagnosis risk ratio, 0.
52; 95% CI, 0.
33 to 0.
80; post-diagnosis risk ratio, 0.
37; 95% CI, 0.
25 to 0.
55).

comments

Improved diet quality and exercise levels in patients with PD may be associated with a reduced risk of death, an observation that is exciting
.
The analysis showed that healthy eating patterns and active lifestyles in patients with PD were associated
with lower mortality.
However, the study did not explore whether dietary and exercise changes could slow PD progression or the trajectory
of specific symptoms.

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Commented on the article

Zhang X et al.
Association of diet and physical activity with all-cause mortality among adults with Parkinson disease.
JAMA Netw Open 2022 Aug 1; 5:e2227738.
(https://doi.
org/10.
1001/jamanetworkopen.
2022.
27738)

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