News Release

Study examines Parkinsonism in 1 county in Minnesota

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JAMA Network

Walter A. Rocca, M.D., M.P.H., of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and colleagues examined the incidence of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson disease dementia (PDD) in a study of residents in Olmsted County, Minn., over a 15-year period.

Limited information is available about the incidence of DLB or PDD in the general population so researchers used a well-defined population to help better characterize the two disorders, according to the study background.

Among 542 cases of parkinsonism, 64 patients had DLB and 46 had PDD. The overall incidence rate of DLB was 3.5 cases per 100,000 person-years, the incidence rate of PDD was 2.5 and both increased with age, according to the results. Patients with DLB were younger at the onset of symptoms than patients with PDD and had more hallucinations and cognitive fluctuations.

"In conclusion, our study provides unique population-based data on the incidence of DLB and PDD in Olmsted County. Similar to Parkinson disease, the risk of DLB increases with older age and is more frequent in men," the study concludes.

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(JAMA Neurol. Published online September 16, 2013. doi:10.1001/.jamaneurol.2013.3579. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)

Editor's Note: This study was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health and by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Please see the articles for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.


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