Question

Difference between parkinson disease and alzheimer disease

Answer 1

Answer:

Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) is a term used for dementia that develops after several or many years of living with Parkinson’s, a disease that is caused by loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells. In nearly all cases of Parkinson’s, people experience motor symptoms in the early stages; some may also have very mild changes in cognition at diagnosis. Over time, non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s may appear, including cognitive impairment, REM sleep disorder, memory problems, fatigue, anxiety, autonomic dysfunction, pain and more. Most importantly, not all people with Parkinson’s will develop dementia and at this time, it’s impossible to predict which individuals with Parkinson’s will also develop Parkinson’s disease dementia.

Finally, Alzheimer’s is characterized by different abnormal clumps called amyloid plaques, and jumbled fiber bundles called tau tangles. These microscopic structural changes in the brain were discovered by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906. These plaques and tangles, together with loss of connections between nerve cells, contribute to loss of coherence and memory, as well as a progressive impairment in conducting normal activities of daily living.

Alzheimer’s disease is associated with a lack of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS). Damage initially occurs in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is involved in memory formation. Other portions of the brain, such as the temporal, parietal and frontal cortices, are progressively affected in those with Alzheimer’s disease.

In comparison, people with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) may first present with REM sleep behavior disorder years or even decades before developing dementia, or they may experience visual hallucinations early in the course of their dementia. These are features that help differentiate DLB from Alzheimer’s, even in the early stage of dementia.