Abstract
Background: Non-motor symptoms such as sleep disturbance, cognitive decline, fatigue, anxiety, and depression in Parkinson’s disease (PD) impact quality of life. Increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in individuals with PD have been reported, which may contribute to non-motor symptoms. A mind-body exercise, Qigong, has demonstrated benefits across different medical conditions. However, a lack of evidence causes clinicians and patients to be uncertain about the effects of Qigong in individuals with PD. This study will examine the effects of Qigong on non-motor symptoms and inflammatory status in individuals with PD. Methods: Sixty individuals with PD will be recruited. Qigong and sham Qigong group (n = 30 for each) will receive a 12-week intervention. Participants will practice their assigned exercise at home (2×/day) and attend routinely group exercise meetings. Results: Clinical questionnaires and neuropsychological tests will measure non-motor symptoms including sleep quality (primary outcome). Biomarker assays will measure inflammatory status. A two-way mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be utilized. Conclusions: This study may generate evidence for the benefits of Qigong on non-motor symptoms of PD and the effect on inflammatory status. Findings may lead to the development of a novel, safe, and cost-effective rehabilitation approach for individuals with PD.
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder leading to both motor and non-motor symptoms
In our feasibility study in a single-arm design (n = 7), a 6-week Qigong exercise program demonstrated an improvement in sleep quality measured by Parkinson’s Disease Sleep Scale-2 (PDSS-2), in which the results showed sub-scores of PDSS-2 were significantly improved or showed a trend of improvement including motor symptoms at night (p < 0.05)
Our recent pilot study suggested potential benefits of Qigong exercise through changes in inflammation status, in which the results showed a significant decrease in serum level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α from 13.8 ± 0.6 to 12.3 ± 1.6 (p < 0.05) that was significantly correlated with changes in sleep quality and serum TNF-α level (R2 = 0.62) [18]
Summary
Smirnova 1 , Yvonne Colgrove 1 , Kelly E. Received: 2 December 2018; Accepted: 16 January 2019; Published: 18 January 2019
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