Effects of ergometer exercise in an upright position on autonomic nervous activity in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Autonomic disturbances are common non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Two Japanese men with PD performed three sessions of ergometer exercise each day. The first session involved conventional training the second session involved ergometer exercise in an upright posture, and the third session involved ergometer exercise in a supine posture. We measured the short-term heart rate variability using the R-R interval to evaluate autonomic nervous activity before and after each session. We found that both conventional exercise and lower-limb ergometer exercise effectively improve autonomic nervous system activity.