Parkinson's disease dementia is studied
 

Parkinson's disease dementia is studied

August 29, 2007, 05:46 PM
Hi-tech, World
http://imedinews.ge/en/news_read/60849/

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 29 (UPI) — U.S. medical scientists have discovered an intermediate stage in patients with Parkinson's disease that might be predictive of eventual dementia.

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic, Sun Health Research Institute and the Arizona Parkinson's Disease Consortium studied how patients with Parkinson's disease transition to an immediate state of cognitive problems before developing dementia.

Dementia is associated with Parkinson's in up to 40 percent of patients.

In the study, led by Mayo Clinic Dr. J.N. Caviness in Scottsdale, Ariz., subjects underwent testing for problems with memory, planning and abstract thinking ability, attention, language and visuospatial function. Researchers found 22 percent of subjects had significant cognitive problems in one or two areas, but not severe enough to be diagnosed with dementia.

The value in identifying such a state of mild cognitive impairment is that this intermediate stage could provide clues about how cognitive ability can deteriorate in Parkinson's disease, said Caviness. Understanding this intermediate state of cognitive impairment could help in finding treatments for cognitive problems in Parkinson's.

The study appeared in the July 15 issue of the journal Movement Disorders.

Thanks for the information, Carolyn. I am in a study at Pennsylvania Hospital and have been cognitively tested. So far, so good, but I worry about future decline. What bothers me about the study you mentioned is that I am tiring of studies in which researchers examine us, record what they see, and then feel good because they can more exactly describe how we are falling apart. They waste too much time and money on observing and recording. How about trying to fix the situation? What is their goal? Predicting who will eventually have dementia does no good for the ones who will end up in that state.

Ann

very true Ann!!
I guess the case may be made that it is another "part of the puzzle".
I don't want to know if I am going to get dementia though. Ignorance is bliss in this case.....

Charlie