Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1219671
16 t m c n e w s . o r g Everything went smoothly for about a year, until he was told he needed to increase his dosage. That led to a common side-effect: dyski- nesia, an involuntary movement of his muscles that Kintzele described as more circular—different from the tremors to which he had grown accustomed. Kintzele was pre- scribed different medication to address those side effects, but three days later, he developed a serious allergic reaction. "I had hives over 50 percent of my body and I said, 'I can't take this anymore. I'm done,'" Kintzele said. He called his doctors, assuming there would be an alternative pre- scription, but, none existed. He had to rely solely on Jankovic's original advice. "I did a lot of praying, I did a lot of thinking, a lot of reading, and I said, 'You know what, I'm going to exercise every day, because if every other day was good, every day has got to be better,'" Kintzele said. "For that first year after, I probably missed three days, total." Not only has aerobic exercise been shown to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease, Jankovic said, but it also helps manage common symptoms experienced as a result of Parkinson's medication. Kintzele's symptoms—those invol- untary, circular movements—all but disappeared after he started his daily regimen. And something unex- pected happened, too: he regained much of the energy his Parkinson's had zapped. "It's amazing. I was struggling when I was first diagnosed because I was so tired," Kintzele said. "But now I have energy. I still work. I'm an engineer and, at times, I've worked 10-, 12-, 14-hour days, and I don't have a problem with it. I couldn't have done that before." The benefits don't stop there, Jankovic said. "Exercise improves flexibility of the muscles and it improves rigidity issues, which is one of the cardinal symptoms of Parkinson's disease, so patients who have stiffness of mus- cles and joints, when they exercise, that improves, too," the doctor said. Empowered by his daily routine, Kintzele began setting goals. First, he trained for a half-marathon, overcoming setbacks and injuries to complete one in San Antonio under his goal of two hours. "I ended that race at 1 hour, 53 minutes. I was so fast getting to the line that my wife wasn't ready to take pictures of me," Kintzele said. Since then, he's tried to run at least one half-marathon every year and has pushed himself toward an even more daunting goal: an IRONMAN triathlon, which includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile mara- thon run. It's something he's wanted to do since he was kid. But then, another setback. During a long training run, Kintzele pulled his hamstring. Exercising with Parkinson's can be a double- edged sword, since the condition can also make people more suscep- tible to injuries. Ultimately, Kintzele was diagnosed with proximal ham- string tendinopathy and referred Kintzele works out at the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute, where he underwent physical therapy for a hamstring injury.