{"content":[{"text":"Title: A Pilot Study of Balance and Vitamin D in Persons with Parkinson's disease (PD)","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.088894,"width":0.692866,"height":0.021121}},{"text":"Abstract \n Vitamin D appears to reduce falls in elderly persons by unclear mechanisms. The primary goal \n of this pilot study is to see if there is a relationship between vitamin D levels and balance \n performance in persons with PD. Secondary goals are to gain more information on vitamin D \n levels and balance performance (as assessed using dynamic posturography) in this population. \n The information from this pilot study will help in design of an intervention study to test the \n hypothesis that vitamin D supplementation improves balance and reduces falls in persons with \n PD. This study will also allow for insight into the mechanism through which vitamin D effects \n falls and balance.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.12403,"width":0.748108,"height":0.159318}},{"text":"Specific Aims \n 1. To determine the relationship between low vitamin D levels, poor balance (measured via \n dynamic posturography), and falls in a population with PD. \n 2. To gather preliminary data on vitamin D levels in a population of subjects with PD and \n determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.298273,"width":0.75532,"height":0.089621}},{"text":"Hypothesis \n Vitamin D deficiency negatively impacts balance, as measured using dynamic posturography, \n and results in increased fall rates in persons with PD.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.402818,"width":0.736313,"height":0.054773000000000016}},{"text":"Background & Significance \n PD is a disorder characterized by four cardinal features; tremor, rigidity, slowness, and poor \n balance. A prospective study by Wood et. al. in 2002 found that over 68% of persons with PD \n experienced at least one fall over the course of a year.1 A recent meta-analysis estimated a 22% \n decrease in falls in person receiving vitamin D supplementation.2","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.472515,"width":0.757226,"height":0.08954600000000001}},{"text":"It is traditionally hypothesized that vitamin D decreases falls through its affect on muscles, but a \n recent study showed that there also appears to be an improvement in balance.3 Studies have \n shown that vitamin D receptors are present throughout the brain with a particularly high density \n in the substantia nigra, one of the primary areas of pathology in Parkinson’s disease.4 There are \n benefits of looking specifically at a population with PD. The known presence of vitamin D \n receptors in the brain suggests a central mechanism for effects on balance is very possible \n Persons with PD have balance problems with a central nervous system origin and subtle changes \n may be easier to detect as compared to a population with normal balance.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.576697,"width":0.758184,"height":0.14218200000000003}},{"text":"The data on the vitamin D levels will itself be informative and be important in designing the \n future intervention study. A recent study showed persons with PD have lower vitamin D levels \n then healthy individuals and persons with Alzheimer’s.5 Vitamin D may be particularly low in \n persons with PD in the Northwest. A study looking at medical residents at OHSU found that in \n the spring 47% had deficient levels.6 The recent attention vitamin D has received in the medical \n and lay press may in contrast increase levels, with participants possibly already be on \n supplementation.","bbox":{"left":0.117647,"top":0.733515,"width":0.756286,"height":0.12475799999999992}}],"images_bbox":[],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[]}