Non-motor symptoms (NMS), including sleep disturbance, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, anxiety, depression, etc. are common in patients with Parkinson?s disease (PD) and significantly affect quality of life. Current standard of care is limited in managing many NMS including sleep disturbance and cognitive dysfunction. Qigong is a mind-body approach that may help PD patients to improve their sleep and cognitive function. However, a lack of understanding of the underlying biological mechanism of Qigong exercise limits the development of Qigong exercise as an effective and scientifically sound intervention. Results of our pilot study indicated a potential effect of Qigong exercise in regulating inflammatory biomarkers and a possible connection between the changes in the inflammatory biomarkers and NMS in patients with PD. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no past studies that examined the effect of Qigong exercise on inflammatory biomarkers and NMS of PD. The objective of the proposed project is to examine changes in inflammatory biomarkers and NMS after a Qigong exercise in PD patients. In the proposed study, a total of 50 PD patients will be recruited and randomly assigned to either a Qigong exercise group or control group. Both groups will undergo the same series of evaluations at baseline, end of treatment, and three-month follow up after the end of study. The subjects in the intervention group will participate in a Qigong exercise program. The subjects in the control group will take part in a sham Qigong exercise program. Measured changes in inflammatory biomarkers and NMS will be compared between the two groups and possible correlations will be examined as well.
This study will help clinicians and researchers to better understand the biological mechanism of a mind- body exercise in patients with Parkinson?s disease (PD). The study will focus on PD symptoms of sleep dysfunction and cognitive impairment.
