“Dreams and Brain Disease: REM Sleep Cells Linked to Disorders”

This article on last week’s Live Science (livescience.com) is about REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), which is acting out dreams. This symptom in common in Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, and Multiple System Atrophy. The vast majority of those with RBD have one of these three disorders and often one of these neurological disorders comes to light years (or decades) after the first signs of RBD.

Here’s a link to the full article:
http://www.livescience.com/59300-brain-cells-linked-to-dreaming-found.html

Live Science
Health
Dreams and Brain Disease: REM Sleep Cells Linked to Disorders
By Tracy Staedter, Live Science Contributor
May 30, 2017 07:06pm ET

June 2017 Parkinson’s Support Group Meetings – Guest Speakers – NorCal + Central CA

Here’s a list of guest speakers at many Northern California and Central California PD support group meetings for June 2017.

With my Brain Support Network atypical parkinsonism (DLB, PSP, MSA, CBD) hat on, these meetings are especially appealing to me (because of the guest speakers or topics) BUT remember that these are PD support group meetings:

Santa Rosa, Sat 6/3:  Neurologist speaks about mood, cognitive, and sleep disorders in PD.  This might be applicable to those with DLB and MSA.

Roseville, Tues 6/6:  Learn from a pharmaceutical company rep about a new drug for hallucinations and delusions.  This is applicable to those with DLB.

Sonoma/Vintage House, Thurs 6/8:  Topic is balance and fall prevention.  Speaker unlikely to know about any of the atypical parkinsonism disorders specifically but she probably has some good suggestions.

Stockton, Thurs 6/8:  Medical marijuana is the topic

Gilroy, Mon 6/12:  Listening to and discussing Michael J. Fox Foundation podcasts on sleep disturbances and urinary problems in Parkinson’s.  This is applicable to those with DLB and MSA especially.

Pacific Grove (Monterey County), Tues 6/13:  Speech therapist talks about speech and swallowing changes in PD.  This is applicable to all the disorders in our group.

Palo Alto Young Onset Parkinson’s Group Tues 6/13:  Medical cannabis is the topic

Palo Alto/Avenidas, Wed 6/14:  Manager of Stanford’s Farewell to Falls program will be speaking on the topic of fall prevention.  This is applicable to everyone in our group, whether you can take advantage of Stanford’s program or not.

Sacramento/Arden Arcade, Thurs 6/15:  Movement disorder specialist Lin Zhang, MD, PhD will be addressing the non-motor symptoms of PD.  These symptoms are part of the disorders in our group.

Mill Valley, Fri 6/13:  Registered dietitian speaks about nutrition and PD.  Most of the information should be applicable to those in our group.

Fremont, Mon 6/26:  Movement disorder specialist Han Lee, MD will be the guest speaker.  Unfortunately we don’t know his topic.  But he is very familiar with all the disorders in our group.

Generally, I recommend driving no more than 30 minutes to attend any of these meetings.  If you attend a meeting and learn anything, please share with me so that I can share with others!

Do you need to know the support group meeting location, day/time, contact info, and how to RSVP if required?  Please refer to the Stanford
Parkinson’s website for all Northern and Central California support groups:

parkinsons.stanford.edu/support_groups.html

As always, I’ve deleted the deep brain stimulation-related talks.

Robin

**********************

Half Moon Bay
Thursday, 6/1, 3-4pm
Guest Speaker:  Cherry Tuck, PD fighter
Topic:  Her journey
RSVP?:  No.

San Jose/Willow Glen
Friday, 6/2, 10am-noon (program starts about 10:20am)
Program:  Break into two groups — those with PD and caregivers
RSVP?:  No.

Santa Rosa (Sonoma County)
Saturday, 6/3, 1-3:15pm  (guest speaker 1-2pm)
Guest Speaker:  Allan Bernstein, MD, neurologist, Santa Rosa
Topic:  Mood, cognitive, and sleep disorders in Parkinson’s
RSVP?:  No.

Lodi
Monday, 6/5, 10-11am
Guest Speaker:  Dianna Powell, San Joaquin County coordinator, Legal Services of Northern California
Topic:  HICAP and Medicare updates
RSVP?:  No.

Roseville
Tuesday, 6/6, 1:30-3pm
Guest Speaker:  Saul Avila, Acadia Pharmaceuticals
Topic:  Nuplazid – new drug for psychosis and schizophrenia associated with Parkinson’s
RSVP?:  No.

San Francisco/UCSF Young Onset Parkinson’s Group
Tuesday, 6/6, 6:30-8pm
Guest Speaker:  Cameron Wisdom, Mission Bay Rock Steady Boxing Gym, San Francisco
RSVP?:  Yes, preferred to Monica Volz, [email protected]

Soquel (Santa Cruz County)
Wednesday, 6/7, 1-2:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Jenifer Armstrong, PharmD, pharmacist, Santa Cruz
Topic:  PD – Inside and out of the prescription bottle
RSVP?:  No.

Chico
Wednesday, 6/7, 1:30-3pm
Guest Speaker:  Attorney, Corporon Law Offices
Topic:  Long-term care planning (trusts, wills, and other legal documents)
RSVP?:  No.

Sonoma/Vintage House
Thursday, 6/8, 10-11am
Guest Speaker:  Vanessa Kettler, balance instructor
Topic:  Balance and fall prevention
RSVP?:  No.

Stockton
Thursday, 6/8, 1:30-3pm
Guest Speaker:  Christopher Trinchera
Topic:  Medical marijuana
RSVP?:  No.

St. Helena/Rianda House  (new group)
Thursday, 6/8, 3:30-4:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Barbara Brown, PT, physical therapist, St. Helena Hospital
Topic:  Importance of a PT’s expertise in a PD care plan
RSVP?:  No.

Fresno
Saturday, 6/10, 10am-noon
Guest Speaker:  Beate Ritz, MD, PhD, UCLA
Topic:  PEG (Parkinson’s, Environment & Genes) study at UCLA
RSVP?:  No.

Yuba City (Tri-Counties)
Monday, 6/12, 1-2pm
Guest Speaker:  Carly Pacheco, deputy director, FREED Center for Independent Living, Grass Valley
Topic:  FREED Center’s services
RSVP?:  No.

Gilroy
Monday, 6/12, noon-1:30pm (new time)
Program:  Listening to and discussing Michael J. Fox Foundation podcasts on sleep disturbances and urinary problems in Parkinson’s
RSVP?:  No.

Bakersfield
Tuesday, 6/13, 2-4pm
Guest Speaker:  Lin Zhang, MD, PhD, movement disorder specialist, UC Davis, Sacramento
Topic:  PD and the management of off episodes with Apokyn
RSVP?:  Yes to group leaders Linda Feist, 661-304-9227, or Bill Burgemaster, 661-343-2707

Pacific Grove (Monterey County)
Tuesday, 6/13, 3-4:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Katie Pietsch, SLP, speech therapist, CHOMP
Topic:  Think LOUD! – Speech and swallowing changes in PD
RSVP?:  No.

Palo Alto Young Onset Parkinson’s Group
Tuesday, 6/13, 6:30-8pm
Guest Speaker:  Helen Garvy, PD advocate and care partner
Topic:  Medical cannabis for PD
RSVP?:  Preferred, if this is your first time.  RSVP at least 24 hours in advance to Martha Gardner, group leader, email [email protected].

Turlock
Wednesday, 6/14, 1-2pm
Guest Speaker:  Robert McCulla, DDS, dentist
Topic:  Parkinson’s and sleep
RSVP?:  No.

Palo Alto/Avenidas
Wednesday, 6/14, 2-3:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Ellen Corman, manager, Farewell to Falls, Stanford Health Care
Topic:  Fall prevention in Parkinson’s
RSVP?:  No.

Sacramento/Arden Arcade
Thursday, 6/15, 10am-noon
Guest Speaker:  Lin Zhang, MD, PhD, movement disorder specialist, UC
Davis, Sacramento
Topic:  PD – more than motor symptoms
RSVP?:  No.

Walnut Creek (Mt. Diablo)
Saturday, 6/17, 9am-noon  (speaker 10:45am-11:45am)
Guest Speaker:  Nijee Luthra, MD, PhD, movement disorders fellow, UCSF
Topic:  Advances in treatment of Parkinson’s
RSVP?:  No.

Lincoln
Tuesday, 6/20, 10-11am
Guest Speaker:  Millie Nunez, PD cycling instructor, Sun City Lincoln Hills
Topic:  Nutrition and forced exercise
RSVP?:  No.

Auburn
Tuesday, 6/20, 1:30-3pm
Guest Speaker:  Stephanie Fiola, RN, AbbVie Pharmaceuticals
Topic:  Discovering Duopa – carbidopa/levodopa eternal suspension
RSVP?:  No.

Modesto
Wednesday, 6/21, 1:30-3:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Carlos Becerra, personal trainer, Alpha Fitness
RSVP?:  No.

Auburn (special bonus meeting at same location as regular meeting)
Thursday, 6/22, 6-7:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Robert Ghelfi, MD, Northern California Surgical Group, Redding
Topic:  Stem cell therapy for PD
RSVP?:  No.

Mill Valley (Marin County)
Friday, 6/23, 1-3pm  (guest speaker 1-2pm)
Guest Speaker:  Sue Weiss, RD, dietitian, Kaiser San Rafael
Topic:  Nutrition and Parkinson’s
RSVP?:  No.

Fremont
Monday, 6/26, 7-9:30pm
Guest Speaker:  Han Lee, MD, movement disorder specialist, Kaiser San Leandro
RSVP?:  No.

Who converts from Pure Autonomic Failure to PD, DLB, and MSA?

There’s been quite a bit published this year about those with “Pure Autonomic Failure” converting to Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), or Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).  (All three disorders are alpha-synucleinopathies.)

PAF is a disorder of the autonomic system.  The autonomic system controls things that the body generally handles automatically such as blood pressure, heart rate, eye blink, body temperature, sweating, digestion, etc.

This article, published in February 2017, is authored by the Autonomic Disorders Consortium, a group made up of the key autonomic specialists in the US.

In this study of 74 subjects at five US medical centers (NYU, Vanderbilt, Mayo Rochester, NIH, and Harvard), about one-third (34%) developed DLB (n=13), PD (n=6), or MSA (n=6) over four years. Overall, 14% of people converted from PAF to one of the three alpha-synculein disorders each year.  Many of those who converted had REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD).

Other symptoms were associated with who got MSA, DLB, or PD:

* “Patients who phenoconverted to multiple system atrophy had younger age at onset of autonomic failure, severe bladder/bowel dysfunction, preserved olfaction, and a cardiac chronotropic response upon tilt > 10 beats per minute.”  The “younger age” was early 50s.  On average, those in the PAF group who converted to MSA had PAF symptoms for fewer than five years.

* “Those who phenoconverted to Parkinson disease or dementia with Lewy bodies had decreased olfaction, a lesser chronotropic response to tilt, and a longer duration of illness.”  “Longer duration of illness” refers to the fact that, on average, those in the PAF group who converted to PD or DLB had PAF symptoms for nearly ten years.

And:  “The small group of patients retaining the pure autonomic failure phenotype had very low plasma norepinephrine levels, slow resting heart rate, no REM sleep behavior disorder, and preserved smell.”

Here’s a link to the full article (available at no charge online):

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5323269/

The abstract is copied below.

Robin

———————————————–

Annals of Neurology. 2017 Feb;81(2):287-297.

Natural history of pure autonomic failure: A United States prospective cohort.

Kaufmann H, Norcliffe-Kaufmann L, Palma JA, Biaggioni I, Low PA, Singer W, Goldstein DS, Peltier AC, Shibao CA, Gibbons CH, Freeman R, Robertson D; Autonomic Disorders Consortium.

Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To define the clinical features and biomarkers that predict which patients with pure autonomic failure will develop Parkinson disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, or multiple system atrophy.

METHODS:
One hundred patients who presented with pure autonomic failure were recruited at 5 medical centers in the United States. Seventy-four patients agreed to be followed prospectively. Patients underwent clinical evaluations including neurological rating scales, sleep questionnaires, smell test, and sympathetic and parasympathetic cardiovascular autonomic function tests.

RESULTS:
At enrollment, patients were 68 ± 12 years old (median ± interquartile range) and had had autonomic failure for 5 ± 7 years. Within 4 years of follow-up, 25 of 74 subjects (34%) developed dementia with Lewy bodies (n = 13), Parkinson disease (n = 6), or multiple system atrophy (n = 6). The presence of probable rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder was strongly associated with the development of a manifest central nervous system (CNS) synucleinopathy (odds ratio = 7.1). Patients who phenoconverted to multiple system atrophy had younger age at onset of autonomic failure, severe bladder/bowel dysfunction, preserved olfaction, and a cardiac chronotropic response upon tilt > 10 beats per minute. Those who phenoconverted to Parkinson disease or dementia with Lewy bodies had decreased olfaction, a lesser chronotropic response to tilt, and a longer duration of illness. The small group of patients retaining the pure autonomic failure phenotype had very low plasma norepinephrine levels, slow resting heart rate, no REM sleep behavior disorder, and preserved smell.

INTERPRETATION:
Patients presenting with pure autonomic failure are at high risk of phenoconverting to a manifest CNS synucleinopathy. Specific clinical features predict future diagnosis.

© 2017 American Neurological Association.

PMID: 28093795
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28093795

Lewy Body Dementia Info on Dementia Aide (website)

Dementia Aide, a relatively new website (dementiaaide.com), is focused on selling what it calls dementia-related products.  While a few things such as t-shirts are disorder-specific, most of the products are caregiving items.  They have pages on their website for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, and Lewy body dementia (LBD).

The LBD section, written in September 2016, won’t be added to our list of “Top Resources” but it’s worth checking out.  They seem to have pieced together information from lots of different resources (not always giving attribution every place they could.)  For example, the chart on the difference between LBD, Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s is straight from the Lewy Body Dementia Association but this is only pointed out in one place (not everywhere the chart is).

You might check out their infographic on what they say are the four stages of LBD (on the symptoms page).

The only obvious error I saw was that they don’t have an accurate description of “Lewy body dementia” within the Lewy body disease family.  They show Lewy body dementia is the same thing as Dementia with Lewy Body.  Actually, Lewy Body Dementia is an umbrella term that refers to both Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s Disease Dementia.

Here’s a link to the LBD section:

www.dementiaaide.com/pages/lewy-body-dementia

Robin

Synucleinopathy: How Long You Live Depends on Which One You Have

We posted earlier this week about the Mayo Rochester research into lifespan for Parkinson’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease Dementia, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, and Multiple System Atrophy, as compared to those without these disorders.

This is a good Alzforum explanation of the same research:

www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/synucleinopathy-how-long-you-live-depends-which-one-you-have

Here are a few excerpts from the Alzforum article:

* “Prior studies have reported survival rates for various parkinsonian disorders; however, most of these recruited from hospitals rather than the general population, and none compared α-synucleinopathies side by side.”

* David Irwin, University of Pennsylvania wrote to Alzforum:  “The comparison of survival…highlights the powerful effect of cognitive impairment and dementia to predict a poor prognosis across the PDD/DLB spectrum.  Further, there is limited data on the natural history of MSA, and this paper provides new insight into the relatively rapid progression of this disease.”

* “[Mayo Rochester researcher] Savica said his group has submitted one autopsy study for publication, and will expand on pathology in an upcoming project.”