I have seen several posts lately mentioning both dementia (of whatever type) and Parkinson's. My DH has both and I would love to hear from more folks that are dealing with the 2 diseases. We don't know if DH's are related. His dementia has so many different symptoms that the doctors can't put a name to it as of yet.
My husband was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, because his Parkinson's symptoms and his cognitive changes started at the same time. He has progressed very slowly--three years later he can still go to small local political group and join in the discussion. But I keep him away from money management and travel planning because he gets confused, doesn't see the whole picture, and makes mistakes. He takes both Sinemet and Aricept.
I was very struck by a study that did autopsies of people diagnosed with Alzheimers and Lewy Body Dementia. The largest group had both Lewy Bodies and the plaques and tangles of Alzheimers in their brains. So it is common to have both at the same time.
The Lewy Body Dementia Association at http://lbda.org/ has information on the web and local support groups in the US. There is also a Lewy Body Society in England.
Parkinson's has a dementia component. Not everyone who has Parkinson's develops dementia, but many do. My stepmother's brother-in-law was a brilliant engineer who developed Parkinson's and dementia followed. So now he has both.
Michael J. Fox is the most prominent Parkinson patient. He does not appear to have developed dementia, but who knows what is behind the scenes that we do not see?
My DH showed signs of dementia several years before the Parkinson's became evident. Now that I look back, I noticed signs of memory impairment around 2002. Parkinson's wasn't diagnosed until 2008. He doesn't have symptoms of Lewy Body, and his symptoms are very different from AZ. It is so confusing, but at least he is on meds...Aricept, Namenda, Sinemet and Azelect.
My DH has vascular dementia and then last year he was diagnosed with parkinson's. He was diagnosed with the parkinson's when he started having trouble with swallowing and chocking while eating. That happens with dementia also but not usually until later stages so that's why his dr. suspected the Parkinson's. Right now he is having a lot of trouble with his hands. He drops things and even sometimes forgets that he has something in his hand.
There are just so danged many variables to neuro diseases. It is truly not fair. Tonight we watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy in which there was much talk about AZ. DH said that he really doesn't see himself as having much dementia. I looked at him and said "You forget that you forget". He agreed with me that it is probably worse than he thinks it is. He is still a very kind and gentle man with a great sense of humor. I DO need to ask him at times if he is joking or not tho. Sometimes I can't tell if it is the dementia or his wit!
DH also has trouble swallowing. He has learned to take tiny bites and follow each one with a drink of water. His mouth and throat get so dry that he has to have liquids beside him at all times.
My DH does not have Parkinsons, but does have a degenerative Neuro disease that has similarities. All under the family of CAG repeat diseases. (Treatment for one likely to help of CAG repeats dx)
The one blessing it has brought....he is not, nor will he ever be, a wanderer.
His form of dementia is related specifically to the neuro-degeneration. Poor brain is atrophying into a mess, I'm afraid.
These diseases share certain features, which include neurodegeneration, a dominant pattern of inheritance and genetic anticipation. The CAG trinucleotide repeats in all these genes are found in the coding region and is translated into a string of polyglutamines.
Despite the widespread tissue distribution of the transcript and protein for each of these genes, the affected region is primarily the brain and the regions of neuronal loss are highly selective and specific for any of these diseases.
Parkinsons, Huntingtons and Hereditary Ataxia are all CAG repeat disorders, but on different genes. The scientists can count the repeats that are "incorrect" and get a gauge of how fast onset, severity of disability and also, possible targeting of treatments..gene splicing etc. Also referred to as CAG-CTG repeat disorders. To give you an idea..my spouse has a repeat count of around 40...hence his illness. His fathers was around 36..hence a milder illness. My spouses granddaughter..they stopped counting after 250 repeats. She passed away in her first year of life. Repeats are different amnounts, tho.. for different illnesses. and of course, found on different genes.
I think I am typing to just have something to do..Sorry..slow news day here. But thanks for the laugh! Leave it to google!
My DH had a diagnosis of Parkenism plus Alz and Vascular Dementia. Parkenism means he had some of the symptoms of Parkenson but not all. At first, they thought he had Lewy Body but when he did not Hallucinate they settled on the second. I think, due to the fact he had all 3 was the reason he did not get "Bad" in any of them and also passed away in the final stage without lingering.
Still, we were dealing with at least 13 years from beginning of symptoms.
For the first three years of my husband's 'changes', the neurologists believed he was demonstrating Parkinsonism Symptoms...but it was not. The meds for Parkinsons made him terribly sick...and that was another sign that he didn't have PD. nancy B*