Aerobic Exercise in Rehabilitation of Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Disability due to Parkinson’s disease (PD) is increasing faster than for any other neurodegenerative disorder. A multidisciplinary approach to rehabilitation of patients with PD is recommended including various types of physical training. Because of its general beneficial effect, aerobic endurance training is necessary for all people to maintain their health. Aerobic exercise in PD is also used for rehabilitation of motor and non-motor symptoms. This article justifies the choice of aerobic exercise intensity, shows challenges in selecting intensity based on maximum oxygen consumption due to the influence of clinical and behavioral factors, difficulties in assessing the effectiveness of therapy due to the wide range of training intensity and amount in the studies. The article summarizes types of exercises used in rehabilitation of patients with PD (walking, Nordic walking, training with a bicycle ergometer and treadmill, aquatic exercises) and their benefits for patients with different courses of the disease. For patients with freezing of gait, bicycle ergometer is a piece of equipment of choice for aerobic stationary training, and Nordic walking is a preferred type of outdoor training. The author shows the role of aerobic training in the treatment of non-motor symptoms such as depression, cognitive changes, and sleep disorders. A question about the use of aerobic training in patients with Hoehn–Yahr grade 4–5 of PD remains open. Further studies are needed to evaluate training protocols, assess rehabilitation effectiveness and evaluate physical training in the advanced PD.