Nordic walking and gait for Parkinson's Disease patients

Researchers tested the efficacy of Nordic walking in reducing gait asymmetries (reduced ability to walk in a steady, rhythmic way with uniform stride and arm swing) in patients with Parkinson's Disease.

The study lasted 11 weeks and involved a Nordic walking program for the patients.

The researchers found that 11 weeks of Nordic walking helped the patients reduce the asymmetries and improved knee and hip movement.

Nordic walking and Parkinson's Desease

A study looking at the neuroprotective effect of Nordic walking for people with Parkinson's Disease found improvements in proprioception [perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body] and balance.

Nordic walking and primary Sjögren's syndrome

Some researchers looked at the effect of Nordic walking on women with primary Sjögren's syndrome. The syndrome appears to affect mostly women and have some debilitating effects.

Their bottom line finding: "Our findings support the use of appropriate aerobic exercise in the treatment of primary SS [primary Sjögren's syndrome]."

Other points:

• "The exercise method was Nordic walking for 45 min three times a week for 12 weeks."
• "Outcome measures assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks were aerobic capacity, fatigue, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), anxiety, depression and HRQoL [health-related quality of life]."
• "Analysis showed significant differences between the groups regarding aerobic capacity ( P = 0.03), fatigue ( P = 0.03), RPE ( P = 0.03), and depression ( P = 0.02) with the better values for the TG [TG = treatment group, the one that Nordic walked during this research project]."

These kinds of results aren't uncommon. What always fascinates me is Nordic walkers always seem to report no change to RPE (rating of perceived exertion). That means they don't feel like they're working any harder even though more muscles are involved.