Cycling exercise for autonomic symptoms in early Parkinson's disease

This exploratory analysis of a pilot randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of cycling exercise on autonomic symptoms in early Parkinson's disease (PD). Thirty patients were assigned to a cycling group, which performed three 40-60-min sessions per week for 24 weeks, or to a control group. Autonomic symptoms were assessed using the SCOPA-AUT scale. After 24 weeks, urinary symptoms increased significantly less in the cycling group compared with controls, whereas no differences were observed in other autonomic domains. Among urinary subitems, only urinary frequency improved significantly. These results suggest cycling may selectively benefit urinary function in early PD and warrant further confirmation in large-scale trials.