Something is, and has long been, wrong with Janet Reno's judgment. (And you're right that the media never questioned it.) It probably has nothing to do with Parkinson's, however.
As far as I know, Parkinson's doesn't affect reasoning and judgment. The Pope apparently suffers from Parkinson's, yet is said to be sharp as ever.
"As far as I know, Parkinson's doesn't affect reasoning and judgment."
FYI
According to these studies, I believe it does. No woman that has parkinson's should have been allowed to be AG:
Psychotic symptoms in Parkinson's disease: pathophysiology and management.
Bosboom JL, Wolters ECh.
Research Institute Neurosciences Vrije Universiteit, Department of Neurology, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, in which mainly dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra in the brain degenerate, leading to a depletion of dopamine (DA) in the striatum. The most important motor disturbances of the disease are bradykinesia (slowing down of movement), hypokinesia (poverty of movement), rigidity (muscle stiffness), tremor and postural instability. ******Besides these well-known motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms may develop, such as depression, cognitive impairment and psychosis. Psychotic symptoms constitute a relatively common but nevertheless serious complication, with visual hallucinations and paranoid delusions often being most prominent.****** These symptoms are important contributors to patient and caregiver distress and are often important risk factors for nursing home placement. Exogenous (related to therapeutic interventions) factors are of major importance but endogenous (related to the disease process itself) factors might also contribute to the development of psychotic symptoms in PD. Therapeutic strategies comprise reduction of antiparkinsonian treatment, cholinesterase inhibitors and atypical antipsychotics. As psychotic symptoms in PD are often influenced by both endogenous and exogenous factors, a combination of strategies may be chosen.
Publication Types:
* Review
* Review, Tutorial
PMID: 15155149 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Eur J Neurol. 2004 May;11(5):347-51. Related Articles, Links
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A registry-based, case-control investigation of Parkinson's disease with and without cognitive impairment.
Papapetropoulos S, Ellul J, Polychronopoulos P, Chroni E.
Department of Neurology, Regional University Hospital of Patras, Rion, Patras, Greece. spyrpap@hotmail.com
In approximately 40% of the patients, Parkinson's disease (PD) is complicated by cognitive impairment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of cognitive impairment on disease severity and motor function in idiopathic PD patients. Forty-one PD patients with cognitive impairment (PD-CI) (Mini-Mental State Examination < or =24) and 41 PD patients without cognitive impairment (PD-Control) matched for age at onset and duration of the disease were examined using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). PD patients with cognitive impairment had overall poorer motor function, worse rigidity (both axial and limb) and bradykinesia, as well as worse performance in activities of daily living compared with matched PD patients without cognitive impairment. This could either be attributed to a direct effect of cognitive impairment on parkinsonian symptoms or to decreased compliance of patients during clinical examination. PD patients should be routinely and carefully screened for dementia and caregivers should be aware of the effect of dementia on PD.
PMID: 15142230 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]