Physical Therapy for Neurodegenerative Diseases: An Educational Approach

Author Info

Ashok Chakraborty Ayan Chakraborty Kylie Smith Debjit Chakraborty Smita Guha

Corresponding Author

Ashok Chakraborty
Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA

A B S T R A C T

The most progressive neurodegenerative disease so far we know are Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). They manifest cognitive and motor disorders, respectively. No cures are found yet for both the diseases, except some palliatives. At this stage, some alternative measures can be adopted that may slowdown the further progression and may bring comfort to the affected people. Epidemiological data supports a direct relationship between the physical activity (PA) and the risk of developing those two diseases. Aerobic physical exercise (PE) induces the release of neurotrophic factors, promotes angiogenesis, neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, and improves memory and cognitive functions. Further, PE activates the superoxide scavengers, like superoxide dismutase, endothelial nitric oxide synthase, and thereby protects the hippocampus, which is involved particularly in memory function. AD and PD not only deteriorate the quality of life but also may cause death. Therefore, any positive impact of non-pharmacological interventions, such as physical activity and exercise, would improve public health.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Thu 13, Aug 2020
Accepted: Thu 27, Aug 2020
Published: Fri 04, Sep 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Ashok Chakraborty. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.NNB.2020.03.11