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Mild cognitive impairment is common even in newly diagnosed PD patients, and non-impaired patients are at higher risk than controls to develop MCI, according to two new studies. Aarsland et al. examined cognitive function in 181 newly diagnosed PD patients without dementia or depressive disorder. Mean duration of symptoms was 2.3 years. As a group, PD patients were impaired on all neuropsychological tests compared to controls. Mild cognitive impairment (defined as a z score below -1.5 in at least one cognitive domain out of verbal memory, visuospatial function, and executive function) was found in 17.7% of PD patients, versus 8.2% of age-matched controls (p<0.001). In those PD patients with MCI, impairments were as follows: single-domain non-amnestic MCI 62.5% multiple-domain non-amnestic 9.4% single-domain amnestic 21.9% multiple-domain, amnestic MCI 6.3% "All cognitive domains assessed were impaired, but the majority of MCI had a non-memory type," the authors conclude. "Cognitive impairment should be considered in PD even at the time of diagnosis." Adler et al. prospectively evaluated 44 PD patients, 72 tremor patients, and 164 controls, all with similar ages (mean 77-80 years) and education levels and without MCI. Median follow-up time was 3.1 years. After controlling for sex differences among the groups, the adjusted 5-year incidence of conversion to MCI was 50% for PD, 19% for tremor, and 17% for controls. The hazard ratio was 3.7 for PD vs. tremor and 3.0 for PD vs. controls. The risk for men was twice that as for women. Prevalence and profile of mild cognitive impairment in early, untreated Parkinson's disease - a community-based study D. Aarsland, K. Bronnick, J.P. Larsen, O.B. Tysnes, G. Alves 257;S88 Parkinson's disease increases the risk for developing mild cognitive impairment C.H. Adler, D. Connor, M. Sabbagh, H. Shill, J. Hentz, V. Evidente, P. Mahant, J. Samanta, S. Burns, A. Ahmed, E. Driver-Dunckley, L. Vedders, B. Noble, J. Caviness 292;S100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn