Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease, Vascular Risk Factors and Cognition: A Critical Review

The influence of vascular risk factors on cognitive function in early Parkinson's disease

“…Moreover, the physician-confirmed self-reported nature of the VRFs data may introduce a source of error that is difficult to appreciate. Future studies should consider the potential confounding effects of comorbid orthostatic hypotension, and hyperhomocysteinemia, because both could have an impact on cognition in PD and may explain to a certain extent the discrepancies in previous studies (Doiron and Simard, 2012;Jones et al, 2014).…”

“…In contrast, relatively few studies have investigated the vascular contribution to cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD), and the results are inconsistent (Slawek et al, 2008;Rektor et al, 2009;Doiron and Simard, 2012;Jones et al, 2014). Indeed, it is still unclear whether the reduced autonomic activity in untreated PD lowers the risk of co-occurring hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia (Scigliano et al, 2006), or whether those same VRFs could instead be risk factors for PD itself (Simon et al, 2007;Qiu et al, 2011;Zhang and Tian, 2014).…”