Difference between brain injury and dementia

[bexx87]

Hello,

The only reason I ask this is because my mum has vascular dementia and my uncle (maybe my nan as well had it) has Parkinson's so I have these two traits in my family as well as a BI can the 2 be confused or would I have gotten dementia with or witout my BI because it runs in my family (as well as lots of issues high blood pressure, strokes ect)

[RogerCMerriman]

well all are brain damage but different ways. dementia is global degenerative damage, where as Parkinsons is specific degenerative damage.

Some folks with Parkinson's get Dementia with it, some don't.

where with brain damage, the brain it's self isn't degenerative other than the mild effects of genrally getting old. in fact as the brain is learning/nero placidity after a brain injury, if anything the cognitive ability should be improving.

Is there some evidence that a brain injury can increase your chance of Dementia? yes but frankly that isn't that surprising nore a sure bet either.

[charlieab]

Hi

Hope you're well.

I'd looked into this before because my mum has Parkinson's and Im being treated for Hughes Syndrome (a blood clotting disorder).

I think only about 15% of people with Parkinson's have a family history of it. In otherwords, there seems to be no (identified) genetic influence in the majority of cases. I'm guessing therefore that having a parent with Parkinson's could increase the odds of getting it a bit but Im guessing that an uncle with it might make little difference to your odds of getting it and maybe no difference at all.

I think there are indications that repeated concussions could increase the odds of getting Parkinson's, which is maybe why Muhammed Ali got it. Though he didnt get hit as much as his opponnents! Im guessing that one TBI would not have much of an impact on odds of getting Parkinson's?

As regards vascular dementia, I think there are different types and genetics can be a factor in some and not others. I think most important thing is life style factors eg diet and exercise.

But Im not sure about any of this and Im guessing your neurologist will be able to give you a good idea of risk factors (unless he's an idiot like the last one I saw!).

But Parkinson's and dementia are rare in younger people and fairly rare in older people and so I think that chances of you currently having either of these might be very slim indeed. But again, these are just my thoughts based on very limited knowledge.

best wishes

R

[jayne_h]

I would ask headway's helpline about this. Having memory tests can help spot degeneration.

Frontal lobe brain injuries can cause symptoms like confabulation which also happen with some sorts of dementia.