What do glasses, prisons and color have to do with Parkinson’s Disease? 
Dr. Janet Kohtz, a Neuro Optometrist, explains how glasses and neuro-rehabilitation therapy can possitively impact persons who currently experience the symptoms pf Parkinsons Disease. Her patients have been able to adjust their posture, balance and gait to free themselves from walkers. For further information about how neuro-rehabilitation therapy can help to reverse Parkinsons symptoms, Visit her website at: www.optometrists.org/Riverside
This edited version of my interview with Dr. Kohtz provides a lucid explanation for why mobility issues such as balance problems and freezing are connected to restrictions in the peripheral vision. If peripheral vision is lost, ability to maintain good balance is compromised.
Here is how you can check to see if your peripheral vision is compromised. When a person stands in front of you. look at their eyes directly. Ask them to hold their hands down by their sides and display anywhere from 1 to 5 fingers. Can you see how many fingers they are showing you as you look into their eyes? If you do not know how many fingers they are displaying you have a restriction in your peripheral vision. This restriction may well be a major factor in difficulties you currently have with locomotion or walking. When peripheral vision is compromised, balance will always be jeopardized.
After extensive diagnostic assessments, she provides prisms and glasses to assist a persons with Parkinson’s who are having mobility challenges. I asked Dr. Kohtz during the show what symptoms can be relieved with optometric treatments.
One of the problems has to do with locomotion. The Parkinson’s patient can get stuck in space. He wants to walk over to the kitchen table, but has to sometimes be given a gentle push to start the movement. One of the most important aspects of peripheral vision is goal-directed locomotion. Remember, the vestibular system is in charge of gaze stabilization in space. But, possibly the most important aspect of our vision is not 20/20 central vision, but the sub-conscious peripheral vision. This is what makes a great football player who is able to wind his way down a football field avoiding other players. And this sub-conscious peripheral vision is what STARTS our movement forward.
Glasses, prisms, color, and vision rehabilitation therapy can help. Parkinson’s is a problem of the brain, and the eyes work through the brain also. They aren’t just sitting there on the edge of the head, operating all by themselves. As a matter of fact, the eyes hook up with all the other systems of the body in the brain.
Dr. Janet Kohtz
Are you currently using a wheel chair, Or, does it appear as though you may soon need to use one? In my interview with Dr. Kohtz she explains that use of her special glasses or prisons have “head off at the pass” the necessity of using assisted walking devices such as wheel chairs. Click on the link below to listen.
In the Clip below, Neuro Ooptometrist Janet Kohtz Explains the Connection between the eyes and the Brain and Why Adjustment Glasses Help You Maintain Good Balance and Prevent Falls
As stated on Dr. Padula’s website, “For those who are neurologically challenged or visually impaired, problems with balance, dizziness (vertigo), glare sensitivity, panic attacks and reduced sight can often be caused by visual problems that are treatable.” http://padulainstitute.com