1. Parkinson's Disease Slideshow Pictures
2. Dementia Slideshow Pictures
3. Take the Parkinson's Quiz

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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A person with Parkinson's disease and dementia requires regular checkups with his or her health care professional.

• These checkups allow the health care professional to see how well treatment is working and make adjustments as necessary.
• They allow detection of new problems of cognition, mood, or behavior that could benefit from treatment.
• These visits also give the family caregiver(s) an opportunity to discuss problems in the individual's care.

Eventually, the person with PD and dementia will likely become unable to care for himself or herself or even to make decisions about his or her care if the patient lives long enough with PD and dementia.

• It is best for the person to discuss future care arrangements with family members as early as possible, so that his or her wishes can be clarified and documented for the future.
• A health care professional can advise patients and caregivers about legal arrangements that should be made to ensure that these wishes are observed.

Parkinson's disease dementia prevention

There is no known way of preventing dementia in PD. However, patients with PD are urged to continue to exercise and live a healthy lifestyle as this may delay or reduce the onset of dementia, although there is no good data to indicate this will occur.

Parkinson's disease dementia prognosis

Persons with PD and dementia have a poorer prognosis than persons with PD without dementia. Their risk of mood disorders and other complications, as well as premature death, is higher.

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