Parkinson's / Dementia Link?

[bunny]

Just curious to see if there's any sort of link here. I know it was mentioned in another thread that someone's neurologist said they weren't any more likely to develop Parkinson's than any other person.

BUT I can't help but wonder as my grandfather had and died from Parkinson's, and I also have tremors from time to time. Both of my grandparents on my father's side had dementia in their final years as well.

Since I had the tremors starting in my teen years, I had intentionally skipped any careers (surgery) which required fine dexterity just in case it struck me.

[anna]

My maternal grand father had Parkinson's all the females on my mothers side eventually had some form of dementia set in, though they only started showing symptoms well into their 80's so may be more age related I suppose. I have hereditary essential myoclonus (just found out the name of this condition was changed to myoclonus dystonia some years back.) my fathers side of the family had strokes as a big problem!

[jangle]

Parkinsons wasn't mentioned in the long term follow up of people with effort syndrome. Some developed complications of high blood pressure but not in a frequency much different than the general population.

[jenglynn]

I did not realize there was a connection? Are there studies that say that people with autonomic neuropathy (or other ANS disease) have a higher than average chance of developing Parkinson's. I have a grandparent on both sides of my family who passed from Parkinson's. I try not to obsess about it, but lately I've developed more tremors and twitches so I admit the thought has crossed my mind but when I brought it up at Mayo I was told that my risk was slightly elevated due to family history but my autonomic issues were not included in that risk factor.

I guess I try really hard NOT to worry unless I have good reason to so I'm just wondering if there is more research I'm not aware of and preventive measures, if any, to follow.

Jen

[bunny]

There aren't any published studies showing a link. I'm just doing a very informal, very unscientific poll here to see if there might be anything to it since some of the symptoms are common. No reason for panic/alarm/worry here. Much of the POTS/DI world hasn't ever been studied. I'm just throwing an idea out there to see if there's any reason to bother with it.

Association does not mean causation by any means. The problem with attempting to link symptoms is you can sometimes get some very interesting but very wrong conclusions. For example if you look at high-crime areas, there are usually more police present in those than low-crime areas. One could come to the conclusion that a high police presence causes crimes. Similarly-flawed logic has been unintentionally used in science numerous times. Just look at the studies linking high-fat diets to obesity (don't tell the French this), or the study which said children sleeping with nightlights were more likely to develop myopia (no, just more affluent families were likely to have night lights and more affluent families were more likely to encourage reading, which affects vision).

[jenglynn]

Oh no worries- I won't panic I was just curious if any studies had been done.. It is interesting that it has occurred on both sides of my family. We also have a strong family history on one side of: dementia, autism/Aspergers, OCD (which I've wondered if I have myself) and ADHD- along with lots of syncope and blood pooling, and connective tissue diseases, and dyslexia (which I do have). All of these diagnosis are either with my grandparents, father, brother, his children or mine. And strong family history of thyroid disease on this side too- which would not seem to connect- but paternal grandfather had his thyroid removed (unsure of cause) my dad has hyperthyroid- out of control- but he does nothing about it and doesnt take care of himself in general- and my aunt (his sister) her thyroid removed because of Graves Disease that they could not get under control with treatment- and eventually was only left with this option. And paternal grandma and her father ( my great grandfather) both died of sudden aneurisms- immediately- one in their 50's the other in their 60's. That grandma was a fainter like me- started as a young child and was always fainting. My 13 year old started fainting at about age 11 and has fainted 4 or 5 times- in 2 years so not a lot- but enough in my mind to wonder. She also has hyptmobility and I was told when she was 12 months she had a connective tissue disease because she was very delayed in large motor skills- didn't sit up on her own until almost 18 months- walked after 2nd birthday- and the best way to describe her was "floppy". She was also born with a hole in her heart (that healed at age 6 on its own).

It's just interesting to look at family history and try to put things together. The genetic doctor I saw at Mayo about threw her hands up with me... She says the combination of things is just too many and without doing genetic testing it would be impossible to narrow things down..

Very interesting topic to me though... Thanks for posting the poll.

Jen

Lots of stuff going on in my family- especially Dad's side.. Nothing really seems to go together but yet some things do and some don't.

[issie]

Yes, both in my extended family. My first (wrong) diagnosis was Parkinson's before I got the HyperPOTS diagnosis. Lots of strokes in my immediate family and signs of dementia in my immediate family starting in their 70's. Also, history in my family of thyroid disorders including cancer. I also have EDS. I'm wondering if we are born with these genetic flaws and they start to manifest themselves at different times in our lives. Some, seemingly, at younger ages than others. That being said, IF we are born with this and it is genetic - is there a way we can tweak these genetic defects to have better quality of life and prevent ourselves from going down the paths that other family members have experienced? THAT'S THE QUESTION.

Issie

[roxie]

I wonder the same thing, issie. If I knew there was something I could do, I would do it!

I believe parkisnon's is a form is dysautonomia.

I don't know of parksinon's in my family.

My grandma has Alzheimer's though.

[anna]

I found this, which is of interest to me because along with the ANS stuff EDS I also have familial myoclonus, which has now been re classified as;

Myoclonus-dystonia (M-D) is a movement disorder characterized by a combination of rapid, brief muscle contractions (myoclonus) and/or sustained twisting and repetitive movements that result in abnormal postures (dystonia). The myoclonic jerks typical of M-D most often affect the neck, trunk, and upper limbs with less common involvement of the legs. Approximately 50% of affected individuals have additional focal or segmental dystonia, presenting as cervical dystonia and/or writer's cramp. Non-motor features may include obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, anxiety, personality disorders, alcohol abuse, and panic attacks. Symptom onset is usually in childhood or early adolescence but ranges from age six months to 80 years.

One cause is the mutation below, that is of real interest as it is linked to a collagen fault in the COL1A2 area.

Microdeletion 7q21. However, at least six persons with interstitial deletions that include SGCE have been described: five had typical M-D and one, a nine-year old who had no signs of M-D, had split-hand/split-foot malformation and sensorineural hearing loss. This child and one other had facial dysmorphism and cognitive delay. Additional findings noted in these six individuals included short stature (4), joint laxity (3), bone fractures (2), severe early generalized osteoporosis with necrosis of the femoral head and cartilage defects leading to hip and knee replacement by age 25 years (1), blue sclerae and cavernous cerebral malformations (1), and hypodontia (1). These findings are most likely the result of deletion of a number of contiguous genes including COL1A2 and KRIT1[DeBerardinis et al 2003, Asmus et al 2007, Grünewald et al 2008].

One additional individual with M-D, language delay, dysmorphic features, and a seemingly balanced de novo reciprocal translocationwas subsequently found to have microdeletions of 7q21 and 9q23 [Bonnet et al 2008]

[bellgirl]

I was the one who said my neurologist said that we don't have any more chance of getting Parkinson's than the average population, but what I have read, tells me that there are Parkinson-like symptoms, and there is a form of Multiple Systems Atrophy, which is connected to Parkinson like symptoms. Any time you look up Dysautonomia, they mention Parkinson's, and I have also read during my medical research that people with dysautonomia sometimes have 50% less dopamine in their systems, and 44% end up with it, so this to me seems like there is more of a propensity to go in that direction...Just saying . I have no family history of Parkinson's; I do have a family history of aneurysms and strokes, my father's father died of a CVA at 46, my father died at 71, and my maternal grandmother had dementia before she died, but none of my other grandparents made it to the age of developing it, so who knows?! My mother is still alive at 82, has much more energy than I, and has no sign of going in that direction...

[bunny]

I know my dad's had 1-2 very minor strokes and that some of my extended family on my mother's side has had some severe strokes. In both cases, they had high blood pressure. My body doesn't seem to be anything like anyone else in my family's. They all struggle with high cholesterol, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, whereas all three of those are low for me. They're all generally Type A stressball personalities, I'm a relaxed Type B. At the same time, I'm not willing to discount genetics.

[ramakentesh]

yeah dementia for sure.

[forevertired]

My Maternal grandmother has parkinson's.