Expiratory Muscle Training in Patients With Parkinson's Disease (EMST)
Parkinson's Disease
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Parkinson's Disease focused on measuring Breathing, Cough, Speech, Swallow, Parkinson's disease
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Adults between the age of 35 and 85 years.
- Diagnosis of Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (either tremor-predominant or rigid- predominant) by their neurologist.
- Disability level of II, III, or IV (Hoehn & Yahr, 1976) as indicated in their most recent neurological evaluation.
- Forced Expiratory Volumes (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) within normative range for age and sex determined by a pulmonary function screening.
Persons who are able to maintain their current level of physical activity (including both aerobic exercise and weightlifting) throughout the entire training period.
*Subjects will be asked to report any significant changes in their level of activity throughout their participation in the study in regards to intensity and frequency of exercise (i.e. a sedentary person begins exercising three to four days per week).
- Completion of the informed consent to participate in the study.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Other neurological disorders
Positive history of any of the following conditions:
- Gastrointestinal disease
- Gastro-esophageal surgery
- Head or neck cancer
- History of breathing disorders or diseases (e.g., Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)).
- Untreated hypertension
- Heart disease
- History of smoking in the last five years
- Failing the screening test of pulmonary functions (e.g., FEV1/FVC < 75%)
- Difficulty in complying with the training protocol due to neuropsychological dysfunction (e.g., severe depression).
- Other illness that would prevent patient from completing the protocol.
Sites / Locations
- University of Florida
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm 3
Experimental
Sham Comparator
No Intervention
EMST
sham
Control
Four week device driven strength training program
Four week sham device driven training program
Four weeks of no intervention