Little is known about body composition in Parkinson’sdisease (PD). We studied 35 patients (20 male, 15 femalesubjects; mean age 69.7±5.8 years) with advanced PD byanthropometry, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), andserum 25-OH vitamin D measurement. Over 70% of patients had adisease duration of more than 4 years; all were on L-dopatreatment. Low levels of serum 25-OH vitamin D were present in41% of the patients. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 25.3±4.3kg/m2 (range 17.1–37.3). Mid-armmuscle circumference was below the 10th percentile in 23%. Forwhole-body mean (±SD) bone mineral density, the T score wasbelow -1 SD in 35% of patients, and the Z score was below -1 SDin 24%. Percent fat mass measured with DEXA was 30.6±11.4%(range 10.1–45.5) in the overall sample; it was 21.1±8.8% (range10.1–30.4) in male subjects and 38.1±9.2% (range 25.8–45.5) infemale subjects. We conclude that advancedstage PD may showexcess adiposity coexisting with depletion of lean body mass(sarcopenic obesity), in addition to decreased whole-body bonemineral density associated with low serum 25-OH vitamin D. A lowlevel of physical activity and inadequate exposure to sunlightare likely to be among the putative causes.

OBJECTIVES:The aim of this study was to evaluate the typical strategies of obese subjects during a sit-to-stand task (a typical daily living activity) and to assess the load conditions of hip, knee and ankle joints.DESIGN:Cross-sectional, controlled (obese patients vs controls) study on sit-to-stand movement analysisSUBJECTS:Ten adult young volunteers (five men and five women, mean age 28, s.d. 3 y; mean BMI 22, s.d. 2.3 kg/m2) and 30 obese subjects 25 women and five men, mean age 39.4, s.d. 13.7 y, mean BMI 40, s.d. 5.9 kg/m2) suffering from chronic lower back pain were analyzed in a sit-to-stand task (10 trials for each subject).MEASUREMENTS:Angle parameters carried out from a quantitative three-dimensional analysis of sit-to-stand (STS) movement, using an optoelectronic system.RESULTS:STS task in controls was characterized by a fully forward bending strategy of the trunk, while in obese patients at the beginning (first trial) of the STS task they limited the forward bending in order to protect the vertebral column. When fatigue increased during the execution of multiple STS tasks, the protection of the vertebral column was secondary to the execution of the task. In order to limit the muscle fatigue they increased the forward bending in order to decrease knee joint torque.DISCUSSION:The analysis of the strategy used by obese patients in STS task can be used in the design of future trials to assess the efficacy of rehabilitative treatment.