{"content":[{"text":"Preliminary Data \n Vitamin D in Men with Osteoporosis: Dr. Peterson presented a poster at a national meeting \n regarding vitamin D levels in men with and without PD. The data was obtained from a large \n cohort study, The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study. Vitamin D levels were lower in \n men with PD compared to controls; 22.8 (+6.7) ng/ml vs. 24.4 (+7.9) ng/ml; but this difference \n was not statistically significant. \n Vitamin D and Osteoporosis Assessments in Veterans with PD: Dr. Peterson has an abstract \n accepted for the 2009 Movement Disorder’s Society meeting entitled “Vitamin D and bone \n density assessments are rarely obtained in veterans with Parkinson's disease (PD).” Out of a \n total of 3,128 persons carrying a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease only 236 or 7.5% had a vitamin \n D level checked, during the five year period assessed. Even fewer, 129 or 4.1%, had bone \n density testing. The data shows that osteoporosis and its risk factors in Parkinson's patients are \n vastly under assessed within the VA system, despite the increased risk of falls in this patient \n population. \n Sensory Organization Test (SOT): Figure one shows results for one of the balance measure, the \n SOT, for a completed study subjects. There are six scenarios. In scenarios 1-3 the surface is \n fixed with eyes open for 1, then closed for 2, and then with movement of the surround for 3 (see \n figure 2). In scenarios 4-6 the base the subject is standing on moves in response to their \n movements, termed sway-reference. In 4 the eyes are open, in 5 the eyes are closed, and in 6 the \n surround area moves. Scores on SOT have been shown to correlate to falls.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.089182,"width":0.762608,"height":0.350984}},{"text":"Figure 1: Sample SOT","bbox":{"left":0.154216,"top":0.693354,"width":0.17872800000000003,"height":0.019048999999999983}},{"text":"Figure 2: SOT conditions","bbox":{"left":0.619412,"top":0.694415,"width":0.19881099999999996,"height":0.019048999999999983}},{"text":"Study Design \n This is a pilot study. We will recruit 40 subjects with idiopathic PD to measure balance and \n vitamin D levels in preparation for an intervention study. To determine if we can measure \n balance deficits, using clinical posturography all subjects will undergo a battery of computerized \n balance testing. Specific results from these measures will be compared to the vitamin D levels \n to look for a relationship between balance and vitamin D in Parkinson's subjects. Falls in the \n month proceeding the testing will also be analyzed for a relationship with the balance measures. \n Finally the relationship between fall rates and Vitamin D will be examined.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.74297,"width":0.7585490000000001,"height":0.14189299999999994}}],"images_bbox":[{"left":0.117647,"top":0.456818,"width":0.360784,"height":0.236061},{"left":0.599216,"top":0.448864,"width":0.278235,"height":0.243333}],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[{"left":0.117647,"top":0.456818,"width":0.360784,"height":0.236061},{"left":0.599216,"top":0.448864,"width":0.278235,"height":0.243333}]}