Can Wilsons Disease result in permanent brain damage leading to memory loss?
I am a neurologist and I have seen many Wilson’s disease patients. Even though Wilson’s disease is primarily classified and considered as a “movement disorder,” cognitive decline is very common. The analogy is with Parkinson disease, where some patients develop “subcortical dementia.” The subject of dementia/cognitive decline in Wilson’s disease has not been studied that well but some papers about this have been published. Basically, what is going on is the disruption of projections of the basal ganglia to the prefrontal cortex. This may be reversible if Wilson disease is treated and the patient responds to the treatment. – Peter Hedera, M.D.
