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Can fitness training delay the development of Parkinson’s disease?

Fitness training is good for many things. But can it also slow the development of the disease in people with Parkinson’s disease? This is what Associate Professor Ulrik Dalgas from Aarhus University is investigating in a new research project.

Associate Professor Ulrik Dalgas from the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University has received almost DKK three million to carry out a research project that examines the effect of strenuous fitness training in people with Parkinson's disease. The grant comes from the Danish foundation Fabrikant Vilhelm Pedersen og Hustrus Mindelegat.

The purpose of the research project is to find out whether long-term strenuous fitness training can mitigate the progression of the disease and positively impact the most significant symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease.

The grant gives Ulrik Dalgas the opportunity to retain a talented postdoc and start a new PhD project in collaboration with Associate Professor Simon Fristed Eskildsen from the Centre of Functional Integrative Neuroscience, also at Aarhus University. In addition, the research group will now be able to ramp up its work with Parkinson's patients, and continue to build on the knowledge that Ulrik Dalgas and his colleagues have already accumulated over the past fifteen years with physical training of neurological patient groups, including people with multiple sclerosis.

Contact

Associate Professor, PhD Ulrik Dalgas
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Mobile: (+45) 4012 3039
Email: dalgas@ph.au.dk