Metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to recent research. “These findings advocate for comprehensive management of MetS [metabolic syndrome] as a pivotal strategy…

Understanding and identifying epigenetic changes — those that affect gene activity without altering a gene’s DNA sequence — in blood samples from people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions may help assess the risk of dementia, two independent studies suggest. In one study, changes in DNA methylation, one…

Scientists have discovered that long-term changes in a biomarker of nerve damage, called neurofilament light chain (NfL), could be used to predict cognitive decline in people with Parkinson’s disease due to certain mutations. They found that a slower progression of dementia in people with LRRK2-associated Parkinson’s compared with those…

Levels of the GFAP protein in blood are significantly higher in Parkinson’s disease patients with cognitive impairment — particularly those with dementia — compared with healthy people, a new study shows. According to researchers, blood GFAP levels could accurately identify Parkinson’s patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who ended…

The risk of developing dementia appears to be higher among people with Parkinson’s disease when compared to age and sex-matched controls, according to the findings of a 25-year follow-up study of more than 1,000 patients in Sweden. The study, “High risk of developing dementia in Parkinson’s disease: a…

Researchers have found that Parkinson’s patients whose cognitive ability is intact, but who have a specific genetic variant, have significantly less gray matter in the regions of their brain that are related to dementia. The study with that finding, “Reduced gray matter volume in cognitively preserved COMTÂ 158Val/Val Parkinson’s…

Anticholinergic medications used to treat depression, urinary incontinence, or Parkinson’s disease increase the risk of dementia, even if the therapy was taken 20 years before diagnosis of cognitive impairment, a study has found. The study, “Anticholinergic drugs and risk of dementia: case-control study,” was published in…