132. How is Parkinson’s disease related to dementia?
What is Parkinson’s disease dementia?
There are 1 million people with Parkinson’s disease, and it affects 2% of adults over 65. Parkinson’s resembles dementia, but dementia is an umbrella term of a set of symptoms related to thinking and memory and cognitive abilities. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, but there are many types – including Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD).
Megan Rowe is back, and she’s the Senior Program Manager for the Alzheimer's Association: Dallas and Northeast Texas chapters. Since April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, she helps bring awareness to Parkinson’s disease dementia and what that involves.
Parkinson’s symptoms include changes in memory, concentration, and judgment, along with trouble interpreting visual information, muffled speech, speech changes, hallucinations, and delusions. This type of dementia is also characterized by paranoid episodes, depression, irritability, anxiety, and sleep disturbances, including excessive daytime drowsiness, and REM sleep disorder.
Treatment depends on many factors, so stay in contact with your physician to find the right types of medication and lifestyle changes. For example, if you have lots of dizziness and instability when walking, any drugs that enhance those symptoms should be avoided. Fall prevention is important.
In addition, if you start feeling symptoms, know that early treatment and prevention are key. Parkinson’s worsens over time because it is a progressive disease. However, there are things that you can do by working with your physician to maintain quality of life and be as independent as long as possible. Nutrition and lifestyle changes play a big role as always in managing disease.
Topics discussed:
Types of dementia
Parkinson’s disease dementia
Lewy bodies
SSRIs / antipsychotics
Risk factors for Parkinson’s disease dementia
Parkinson’s disease dementia symptoms
Takeaways from this episode:
- Not everyone who is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease will get dementia, but it is a factor in getting dementia, affecting 50 to 80% of people that have Parkinson's.
- There are different types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinson’s disease dementia.
- Parkinson's disease and Lewy Body both affect the body and are similar, but Parkinson’s can affect motor decline earlier before cognitive impairment starts taking place.
- There are no treatments to slow or stop brain cell damage caused by Parkinson's disease dementia, but the treatments available focus on improving symptoms.
- Risk factors include: advanced age, the advanced stages of Parkinson’s (with greater severity of motor symptoms and cognitive impairment), genetic history, behavioral symptoms like paranoia and delusions, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Resources discussed:
Learn about Parkinson’s disease dementia on the Alzheimer’s Association website:
Want to deep dive into Parkinson's Disease? Listen to the full interview:
Get free education and support from the Parkinson’s foundation at https://www.parkinson.org/
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