{"id":551381,"date":"2026-07-20T23:58:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T23:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/551381\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T23:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T23:58:07","slug":"muscle-mass-alone-does-not-explain-fitness-drops-in-parkinsons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/551381\/","title":{"rendered":"Muscle mass alone does not explain fitness drops in Parkinson’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Older people with Parkinson\u2019s disease<\/a> who engage in regular exercise tend to perform worse on measures of physical fitness than similarly aged adults without the disease, but these differences are not explained by variations in body muscle mass, a study showed.<\/p>\n

While men and women with Parkinson\u2019s tend to have different amounts of muscle and fat, these anatomical differences don\u2019t translate into differences in physical function, the researchers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis finding reinforces the notion that physical function in PD depends on a complex interaction between [neurological], muscular, and postural control factors, beyond the absolute quantity of [muscle] or fat tissue,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

An early-access version of the study, \u201cPhysical performance and DEXA-derived body composition in adults with Parkinson\u2019s disease participating in a community-based exercise program and community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study<\/a>,\u201d was published in\u00a0Scientific Reports.<\/p>\n

The study was conducted among adults in Latin America, a region that is underrepresented in Parkinson\u2019s research.<\/p>\n

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Differences in body composition don\u2019t mean differences in function<\/p>\n

Parkinson\u2019s disease often leads to problems<\/a> with mobility and physical function. To help preserve functionality, it\u2019s widely recommended that people with Parkinson\u2019s should stay active and get regular exercise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study enrolled 18 adults with Parkinson\u2019s who were regularly participating in community-based exercise programs. These patients underwent a battery of physical function tests and scans to measure the amount of muscle and fat in their bodies.<\/p>\n

Researchers found that muscle and fat levels varied significantly by biological sex: Men tended to have more muscle, while women usually had more fat. Despite these differences, male and female patients performed similarly on physical function tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe absence of significant sex differences in physical performance variables suggests that, in this group of individuals with [Parkinson\u2019s disease] participating in a community-based exercise program, structural differences in body composition do not necessarily translate into differential functional performance,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

The study also included a control group of adults aged 60 and older without Parkinson\u2019s disease who had low to moderate physical activity levels. On measures of physical function, people with Parkinson\u2019s consistently performed worse than the control group. In particular, Parkinson\u2019s patients walked much more slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most relevant findings was the marked functional performance impairment in individuals with PD compared with community-dwelling older adults,\u201d the researchers wrote. \u201cThe reduction observed in the PD group occurred despite regular participation in [exercise] training, suggesting that physical activity, although beneficial, does not fully compensate for the deficits arising from the neurodegenerative mechanisms inherent to the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researchers constructed statistical models to determine whether differences in physical function scores might be explained by variations in muscle mass in people with or without Parkinson\u2019s. The models showed no meaningful association between lean muscle mass and physical function scores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis finding may suggest a potential dissociation between muscle structure and physical function in Parkinson\u2019s disease,\u201d the researchers wrote. They said the data suggest that the neurological problems inherent to Parkinson\u2019s have a greater impact on physical function than differences in muscle or fat content.<\/p>\n

The researchers noted that the study was limited by its small size, but said the results may help inform which types of exercise and rehabilitation strategies are most beneficial for patients with Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The findings \u201csupport the inclusion of muscle strengthening and functional aerobic conditioning interventions as central components of exercise programs in Parkinson\u2019s disease,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings provide relevant evidence regarding the interaction between Parkinson\u2019s disease, ageing, and physical function in a Latin American context that remains underrepresented in the scientific literature,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Older people with Parkinson\u2019s disease who engage in regular exercise tend to perform worse on measures of physical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[589,163,85,46],"class_list":["post-551381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}