Risk of dementia in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Patients with PD have an almost sixfold increased risk for becoming demented compared with subjects without PD.

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

“…The association of extrapyramidal signs with cognitive impairment supports the hypothesis of a role for PD subcortical pathology in the development of dementia (Levy et al, 2002;Bancher et al, 1993). Older age, disease duration and older age at onset were also identified as prominent risk factors for cognitive impairment in PD (Aarsland et al, 2001;Aarsland & Kurz, 2010;Hughes et al, 2000). Other potential features likely to predict cognitive impairment and PDD include visual hallucinations and genetic factors .…”

“…In addition, the incidence and prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as the relative risk for dementia, are higher in PD than in healthy elderly (Aarsland et al, 2001;Aarsland et al, 2005;de Lau et al, 2005;); this is thus an important problem. Some clinical and demographical risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia in PD (PDD) have consistently been reported.…”

Regional Volume Analysis of the Parkinson Disease Brain in Early Disease Stage: Gray Matter, White Matter, Striatum, and Thalamus

“…Our results suggest that the effects of PD on the GM in early disease stages were not as marked as its effects on the WM. Several studies suggest that the risk of dementia is 6 times greater in patients with PD compared with controls, 35 and the prevalence of PDD is estimated as ϳ25%. 36 PDD was associated with greater GM reduction compared with PDND on morphologic MR imaging studies.…”

Morphometry of the human substantia nigra in ageing and Parkinson’s disease

“…Many PD patients eventually develop cognitive decline [1,25] and, in some, the earlier clinical manifestations may include sleep disorders [10,42]. The neuropathology of PD is characterized by degeneration of the substantia nigra (SN) with loss of neurons and the accumulation of α-synuclein aggregates within neurons and neurites, known as Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, respectively [17,23,39].…”