Parkinson's patients having more vitamin D had better balance control

The relationship between balance control and vitamin D in Parkinson's disease-a pilot study.

Mov Disord. 2013 Jul;28(8):1133-7. doi: 10.1002/mds.25405. Epub 2013 Apr 2.

Peterson AL1, Mancini M, Horak FB.

BACKGROUND:

Balance problems and falls are a major source of morbidity and mortality in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Vitamin D supplementation reduces falls and sway in neurologically intact elderly fallers, but effects in Parkinson's disease are not established.

METHODS:

To study this relationship and select outcome measures for a vitamin D intervention study, balance function and vitamin D concentration were quantified in a series of Parkinson's patients in a cross-sectional, observational study. Participants underwent a battery of 5 balance tests.

RESULTS:

Serum vitamin D concentrations were correlated inversely with Parkinson's severity, as measured by the motor Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Among the balance measures, vitamin D concentrations were correlated with automatic posture responses to backwards translation, specifically with response strength and stance weight asymmetry.

CONCLUSIONS:

These findings support the hypothesis that vitamin D plays a role in balance among patients with Parkinson's disease and identify specific outcome measures for detecting effects of vitamin D upon balance.

PMID: 23554003

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See also VitaminDWiki

• Parkinson’s Disease relationship to Vitamin D

• Seniors with adequate vitamin D could rebalance themselves 80% faster, and thus not fall as often – 2013

• Seniors with less than 12 ng of vitamin D were not stable – March 2012

• Muscles and Vitamin D - many studies

• Overview Parkinson's and Vitamin D contains the following summary

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