Parkinson's Disease Caring Podcast Kevin Klos, MD

On this episode, I discuss what a caregiver needs to know when confronted with psychosis exhibited by their loved one. It is important for caregivers to understand some of the common and reversible causes of psychosis related to Parkinson's disease. The psychosis may manifest as visual, auditory, or tactile hallucinations. In some cases, delusional thoughts and paranoia may be present during the psychotic episode. 

When a loved one experiences psychosis, you must know what kind of medical attention your loved one will require and be armed with the knowledge of treatment options. I discuss numerous medication options to treat psychosis. You must be aware of potential side effects as well as the black box warning on these medications. Finally, I discuss some of the treatments in the research pipeline and how to find out more information about these medications in clinical trials. 

The Parkinson's Disease Caring podcast is produced and hosted by Dr. Kevin Klos. Please visit www.pdcaring.com for more resources and information. 

In this episode, I introduce the topic of psychosis as it relates to Parkinson's disease. I review some of the important information about the different forms of psychosis including illusions, hallucinations, and delusional thoughts. This episode will set the stage for the upcoming month of episodes diving deep into this topic. We will discuss the biology of psychosis, the various causes of this problem in PD, and the available treatments. Our discussion on treatments will include both pharmacological therapy as well as non-pharmacological therapy. 

The Parkinson's Disease Caring Podcast is produced and hosted by Dr. Kevin Klos. Please visit www.pdcaring.com for more resources and information. 

One of the greatest challenges for a caregiver of a loved one with Parkinson's disease is managing episodes of psychosis. 

On today's episode, I interview a caregiver named Sharon. Sharon is a caregiver for her husband with a 14 year history of PD. In the recent years, he has experienced a decline in cognitive function as well as episodes of psychosis that included visual and tactile hallucinations as well as delusional thoughts. Sharon shares some of these experiences with us and explains how she handled the episodes. She offers great advice for all caregivers not only witnessing psychotic episodes but also cognitive decline. 

The Parkinson's Disease Caring Podcast is produced and hosted by Dr. Kevin Klos. Please visit www.pdcaring.com for more resources and information. 

In this episode, I discuss the current recommendations for treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment of Parkinson's disease as well as the Dementia of Parkinson's disease. The discussion includes both pharmacological recommendations as well as non-pharmacological recommendations based upon the available medical literature. We discuss the recent publication of the Movement Disorder Society recommendation for treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia of Parkinson's disease. 

The Parkinson's Disease Caring Podcast is produced and hosted by Dr. Kevin Klos. Please visit www.pdcaring.com for more resources and information. 

My guest interview is Dr. Keith Josephs, Professor of Neurology and Research Scientist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Josephs is a world expert on Parkinson's disease and related Atypical Parkinson disorders as well as Alzheimer's disease and other dementia illness. 

We discuss where Parkinson's disease starts in the peripheral system of the body as well as in the brain. He shares his thoughts about the research looking into the types of pathological changes that happen in the brain causing dementia. We discuss if dementia could be a result of mixed pathological changes such as a mixture of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease or other conditions. He helps us better understand the difference between Lewy body disease and Parkinson's disease dementia. 

Dr. Josephs also discusses psychosis, depression, and other non-motor symptoms related to Parkinson's disease. He shares with us some of the current research projects that he is personally working on at the Mayo Clinic. Finally, he shares some of his thoughts about a new treatment recently approved by the FDA for Alzheimer's disease. 

After this episode, you will have a much better understanding of what is happening in the brain to cause your loved one to experience changes in cognitive ability due to Parkinson's disease and have hope for the future. 

This month, we will turn our attention to cognition in people with Parkinson's disease. In this introduction episode, I talk about the clinical diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment of Parkinson's disease and what this actually means. I discuss how this condition may progress throughout the course of the illness. I discuss Dementia of Parkinson's disease and the prevalence rate of this condition.

This month, we will focus on the neuropathology of cognitive changes of Parkinson's disease and focus on treatments for various problems related to cognition. We will also discuss in future episodes the research pipeline on novel therapeutics in clinical trials that may improve cognitive performance. 

The Parkinson's Disease Caring Podcast is produced and hosted by Dr. Kevin Klos. Please visit www.pdcaring.com for more resources and information. Please email pdcaringhelp@gmail.com if you would like to suggest topics for future shows or to ask questions related to these topics.