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Dear Fokke, My grandfather had Parkinson's with dementia and depression. I know how difficult it can be to not know the causes of either. I am now doing research on living with Parkinon's and included some information on cognitive problems associated with parkinson's. Studies have found that dementia or other cognitive disturbances occur in about 30% of Parkinson's cases. Loss of memory may be a result of the dementia, or may be due to having Alzheimer's at the same time. Researchers do not know what causes dementia in most Parkinson's people but sometimes it is due to the medication which the doctor has prescribed. You may want to ask your father's doctor about his medications possibly causing these kinds of side effects. Depression has been said to be present in more than one-half of people with Parkinson's (For references,see: Parkinson's Disease: The Complete Guide for Patients and Caregivers by Abraham Lieberman, M.D.) Depression may be caused by the same biological processes (dopamine or serotonin deficiencies) that cause Parkinson's, or it may be due to the reaction of teh patient to diagnosis and functional loss, but it is most probably a combination of both reasons (from "Depression in Parkinson's disease: A psychosocial viewpoint" by R. Brown and M. Jahanshahi in Advance in Neurology, Vol. 65, Raven Press, Ltd. New York. 1995) In any case, your father MAY be able to find help for his memory loss or depression. You might be able to get a referral from your father's doctor to a neurologist or psychiatrist who may be able to give you some specific answers. Good luck with your search for answers and with your search for a job too! Heather Moore On Thu, 27 Jun 1996, Fokke Joel wrote: > Dear Barbara, > > thanks for welcome in the PARKINSN list. You ask me, to introduce myself: I > studied Literature and Philosophy in Berlin, Germany and know looking for a > job. > > I join the list, because last year my father was diagnosted to have > parkinson. I know few about PD and interested in all topics about it. > > My first question: is there any physiological relationship between PD and > the mental state? My father loses more and more his memory. Sometime he is > very depressed and we ask us if its PD or if there are other reasons are > responsible for this. > > thanks and best regards > > Fokke >