The SPARX3 Research Trial Investigates How Exercise Helps Parkinson’s
People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are constantly being told, by family, friends, doctors and the APDA community, that exercise is a vital part of any Parkinson’s treatment plan and is essential to functioning at your best with PD. To support this claim, there are many clinical trials that have evaluated exercise of different types and intensities and its effects on various symptoms of PD.
What the Original SPARX Trial Found
There is data to suggest that exercise does not just improve symptoms but may actually slow progression of the disease. A clinical trial, called the SPARX (Study in Parkinson’s Disease of Exercise) trial was an important milestone is our understanding of the role of exercise in PD progression.
- It was completed in 2017 and followed 128 newly diagnosed people with PD who were not yet on PD medications and were not expected to need PD medications soon.
- The participants in the trial were randomized to be engaged in either high intensity treadmill exercise, low intensity treadmill exercise, or were in the control group.
The exciting results of the trial showed that over the six months of the trial, the control group had a slight worsening of their PD symptoms, whereas the high intensity exercise group remained stable.
SPARX3 Trial seeks to further expand on the connection between exercise and slowing progression of Parkinson’s
This trial led to the initiation of the SPARX3 trial, which is now ongoing, and is designed to test the effects of high intensity vs. moderate intensity exercise in a larger group of people to further understand the role of exercise in delaying disease progression. (APDA has helped support this trial in several ways — read on to learn more.)
Dr. Daniel Corcos, Professor of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, is the primary investigator of the SPARX3 trial. Dr. Corcos was our special guest on Dr. Gilbert Hosts: Exercise & Brain Health and is an expert on exercise in PD. For many years, his primary research interests have been aimed at helping people with PD improve their quality of life, improve their mobility and cognition, and slow down the rate at which their disease progresses via interventions such as resistance exercise and endurance exercise, whose dose (frequency, intensity, time and type) can be controlled and quantified.
A recap of my conversation with Dr. Corcos about the SPARX3 trial
Q: What is the SPARX3 trial? What is it hoping to achieve?
A: The SPARX3 (NCT04284436) study is a Phase 3 clinical trial designed to investigate the effects of moderate– and high-intensity aerobic exercise on disease progression in recently diagnosed patients with Parkinson’s who have not yet started Parkinson’s medication.
Although anti-parkinsonian medication helps alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms, it is not known to slow the rate of disease progression. Aerobic exercise is a treatment with the most compelling evidence for its potential to slow Parkinson’s disease progression. While both moderate- and high–intensity aerobic exercise provide health benefits, it is currently unclear which intensity is more effective for people with Parkinson’s. The goal of SPARX3 is to test whether the progression of the signs of Parkinson’s is decreased in people who have not yet initiated medication when they perform endurance treadmill exercise.
Q: How are you recruiting people with PD for the trial?
A: Participants are being recruited at 25 sites through collaboration with healthcare providers such as Movement Disorder Specialists, digital platforms and online resources such as ClinicalTrials.gov and FoxTrialFinder, and outreach initiatives such as newsletters, educational events, support groups, and more. We appreciate that APDA has posted it on your website, and many APDA chapters which are co-located with a SPARX3 trial site have included information about the SPARX3 trial in their newsletters.
Q: You have put a lot of effort into making sure that the participants in the SPARX3 trial reflect the population of the US. Can you tell us a bit about that and how APDA has been involved?
An APDA grant supported Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC) in their efforts to increase the diversity of enrollment in SPARX3 in the New York City area.
The grant allowed the CPMC staff to employ a number of recruitment strategies including:
- Hiring a Hispanic research coordinator with training in Physical Therapy
- Educating the Neurology faculty at CPMC and at other medical centers around NYC about the SPARX3 trial. The goal was to have clinicians who are diagnosing people with PD send their patients to be evaluated for the trial before starting PD medication
- Reviewing charts of patients to identify those who are newly diagnosed and unmedicated
- Spreading the word about the trial throughout the local community via posting flyers and talking at community events and support groups
Other non-profit organizations have funded us for similar work at various study sites.
Q: How many more people do you need to recruit for the trial?
A: Our enrollment goal is 370 people with PD. We are well over halfway through enrollment, with more than 70 participants having already completed the study. We are looking to recruit 100 more participants.
Q: How much exercise do you do as part of the trial?
A: Individuals will be asked to exercise at either moderate or high intensity for 30 minutes per day, four times per week, for a total of 18 months. They can exercise at home, in a health club/YMCA, or at a facility at the local study site. The study pays for a treadmill to use at home or for the cost of membership to an exercise facility. Heart rate monitors are provided to help participants stay in the specified heart range for their assigned exercise treatment group.
Q: If someone is interested in learning more, what should they do?
A: Please visit www.sparx3pd.com to find the SPARX3 site nearest you. Contact information for the clinical coordinator at each SPARX3 site is on our website, or contact the SPARX3 Project Coordinator (Elizabeth.joslin@northwestern.edu).
Tips & Takeaways
- The SPARX3 trial is a clinical trial designed to study the effects of high and moderate intensity exercise on people with newly diagnosed PD who are not yet on medication.
- APDA has helped in both getting the word out about the trial and in supporting efforts to include a diverse population of patients in the trial.
- If you are interested in learning more about the trial, you can visit the trial website at www.sparx3pd.com.
- Exercise is important for people with PD. Get your copy of APDA’s Be Active & Beyond exercise booklet for free today. (Also available in Spanish and Simplified Chinese.) OR find a virtual exercise class to try at home.