The Lewy Body Dementia Association said dementia with Lewy bodies, also known as Lewy body dementia (LBD) is affecting roughly 1.4 million people in the United States.
As specified in a Prevention report, the National Institute on Aging said that most people know about Alzheimer's disease, the most typical of these conditions, but the second most typical is LBD, which is specifically tricky to diagnose.
Since LBD symptoms frequently overlap with Alzheimer's and some psychiatric disorders, some patients miss on early interventions or are given medical treatment that's not effective or even hazardous.
The most famous incident is the late comedian Robin Williams, who had undiagnosed LBD before he passed away in 2014.
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What is Lewy Body Dementia?
According to board-certified neurologist Hitesh Patel, MD, from the Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in California, most patients suffering from Lewy body dementia are aged 60 to 80 years old when they're diagnosed, with males usually affected compared to women.
Board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and the Neuropsychology Service Director at Columbia University, Elise Caccapolo, Ph.D. said, Lewy body disease causes dementia due to abnormal clumps of a specific protein in the brain.
According to Alzheimer's Association, these are also known as Lewy bodies, called after neurologist Frederich H. Lewy, MD, who discovered them in the early 1900s.
The alpha-synuclein protein is accumulating in nerve cells in the brain's areas that control memory, motor control and thoughts.
This dementia type is progressive which means, it is inclined to gradually worsen at the spread of Lewy bodies. It is similar to Alzheimer's disease in a manner that it can lead to memory decline and visual-spatial awareness problems, explained Caccappolo, although it can lead to symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease, as well, when the protein clumps can disrupt with the neurotransmitter dopamine, helping transmits indications that result in muscle movement, Stanford Health Care physicians said.
Signs and Symptoms to Watch Out For
Dr. Caccappolo and experts at the Mayo Clinic said "LBD can express itself" in several ways. The most common symptoms include increased difficulty to multi-task or problem-solve, fluctuating attention that can affect memory, hallucination, poor visual-spatial awareness like difficulties driving, and movement like muscle stiffness, slow movement, tremors, and losing a sense of balance, among others.
In some circumstances, a person may experience poor regulation of body functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, bowel control, and bladder. He may also experience apathy or depression.
Board-certified internist specializing in geriatrics and Chief Medical Officer at Irvine Clinical Research Dung Trinh, MD said because of a wide spectrum of physical and cognitive symptoms, as well as the levels at which they can take place, LBD is frequently misdiagnosed, at first.
For example, approximately 80 percent of people diagnosed with the disease experience repeated visual hallucinations, the National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke said.
Misdiagnosed with Psychiatric Disorder
Such hallucinations are frequently recurrent and extremely detailed. More so, they typically occur in adults, children or animals, explained Behavioral specialist and family counselor Lisa Skinner, from the field of Alzheimer's and associated dementias, and the author of "Truth, Lies & Alzheimer's" Its Secret Faces.
Since psychiatric symptoms are experienced early in the disease process, many patients are frequently misdiagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, Dr. Patel added.
LBD frequently gets confused with Alzheimer's disease. Changes in attention span and alertness are typically the first obvious signs of LBD. Meanwhile, people with Alzheimer's Disease usually experience memory decline, explained Dr. Patel.
Dr. Caccappolo explained, hallucinations and REM sleep behavior disorder, which can lead people to kick, punch, yelling, not to mention screaming while sleeping, are usually distinctive to LBD as well, in the territory of dementia.
LBD Treatment
While there are no treatments available for LBD, medications and treatments can help manage symptoms. For example, said Dr. Caccappolo, she finds certain treatments helpful, as stated in an LBDA report.
For instance, Cholinesterase inhibitors can help ease agitation, hallucinations, apathy, and memory changes. Meanwhile, antidepressants such as SSRIs can also alleviate mood swings.
In addition, cognitive remediation therapy, which guides patients in cognitively stimulating exercise, can relatively enhance memory, not to mention executive functioning.
Physical and occupational treatment can assist in the prevention of falls, and help individuals maintain physical autonomy in their everyday tasks for as long as possible, explained Skinner.
On the other hand, general counseling can help an individual come to terms when it comes to his diagnosis, discuss his feelings, or navigate anxiety or depression.
Report about Robin Williams' LBD is shown on CNN's report below:
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