Resistance training may have a beneficial effect on the brain and slow down disease progression in people with multiple sclerosis, Danish researchers have reported.
Dr Ulrik Dalgas, of Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues investigated the effect of resistance training in a study of 18 participants on a training regime, and 17 who continued with their usual lifestyle. After 24 weeks, the participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and evaluation of clinical measures of disease progression such as lesion load, global brain volume, percentage brain volume change, and cortical thickness.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journal the authors report: "While the multiple sclerosis Functional Composite score improved, Expanded Disability Status Scale, lesion load and global brain volumes did not differ between groups."
They add: "Percentage brain volume change tended to differ between groups and higher absolute cortical thickness values were observed in 19 of 74 investigated cortical regions after progressive resistance training."
These observed changes were confirmed in measurements of relative cortical thickness changes between groups, in four areas (anterior cingulate gyrus, temporal pole, orbital sulcus and inferior temporal sulcus).
The authors conclude: "Multiple sclerosis is characterised by accelerated brain atrophy, which relates to disease progression. Previous research shows that progressive resistance training can counteract brain atrophy in other populations."
Dr Dalgas says: "For the past 15 years, we have known that physical exercise does not harm people with multiple sclerosis, but instead often has a positive impact on, for example, their ability to walk, their levels of fatigue, their muscle strength and their aerobic capacity, which has otherwise often deteriorated. But the fact that physical training also seems to have a protective effect on the brain in people with multiple sclerosis is new and important knowledge."
Kjolhede, T. et al. Can resistance training impact MRI outcomes in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis? Multiple Sclerosis Journal 28 July 2017; doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458517722645 [abstract]
Leave a Reply