NEW: Study explores pedaling's power to slow Parkinson's disease

Published: Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 4:51 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, April 28, 2013 at 4:51 p.m.

In the narrow, dimly lit room, the cyclers seem intent on a bright screen before them that looks like something from a TV game show, with colored squares that display their first names and their real-time heart rates. Each square is green, yellow or red depending on how close that participant is to an individual, pre-set goal for sustained high-energy exercise.

When the session ends, the riders dismount, beaming with exhilaration from their efforts, softly chatting and laughing with each other. Some show the off-kilter posture or slightly fluttering hand that is a hallmark of the Parkinson's disease they have in common. Others may sway their hips from side to side as they speak about the class.

But all of them at an average age of 71 and 12 weeks into their experimental cycling program believe they are better off than when they started.

The 17 participants, from age 60 to 78, are local patients diagnosed with Parkinson's an age-related progressive neurological disorder that limits movements, balance and the ability to have a normal life. They volunteered for a study conducted by the Neuro Challenge Foundation, a Sarasota non-profit, with a grant from the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation. Once the research data are analyzed and published, Sarasota's fledgling "Pedaling with Parkinson's" class could become a model for offering hope to patients like them everywhere.

This observational study is intended to quantify what so far has been anecdotal evidence that twice-weekly cycling sessions at top speed can soften or delay many symptoms of the disease.

"Some of the benefits we have already seen are improved speech, improved gait and balance," says Jennifer Williams, a care advisor for Neuro Challenge who has tracked the volunteers through the 12-week study. "A lot of folks are coming in without their walkers and their canes. Now they are getting on and off the bikes by themselves, which is huge. And the camaraderie of the class has helped with a lot of the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's, the depression and anxiety."

Doug Tate, 64, was diagnosed with the disease about a year ago after he and his wife noticed some early signs, like a new habit of tapping his foot. Now he has tremors in his right arm and leg. But a week into the study, he noticed that the tremor in his arm vanished temporarily as a result of the cycling sessions. Even better, his overall energy level rose.

"It's the trying that gets you going," he says. "It's one thing to notice the progress on those charts, and it's another to notice the changes yourself. Even my neighbors have noticed it; they said to me, 'Your facial expression is brighter, you're walking more upright, your pace has picked up.'"

Serendipity on a bike

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NEW: Study explores pedaling's power to slow Parkinson's disease