10 Quick Facts about Lewy Body Dementia
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LBD can be detected early. Notwithstanding, it is under-diagnosed, under-recognized and under-treated. Most often, it is misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Learn these 10 quick facts to potentially avert fatal complications.
- What it is: Lewy body dementia (LBD) is a degenerative brain disease that progressively impairs thinking and movement, while impacting behavior and sleep.
- Type of Dementia: LBD is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease.
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Core Symptoms:
- Memory and thinking problems
- Movement problems
- Hallucinations
- Sleep disturbances
- Fluctuations in attention, concentration and paying attention
- Problems with visual-spatial skills (such as depth perception, bumping into objects, not seeing things in front of them)
- Personality changes such as loss of interest and becoming more passive, quiet or withdrawn
- Tendency towards depression
- Population: LBD affects an estimated 1.3 million people in the U.S.
- Public Awareness: The month of October is designated as Lewy Body Dementia month.
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Diagnosis:
- Wrong Diagnosis: LBD is under-recognized, under-diagnosed and under-treated. It is most often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. Three out of 4 LBD patients are initially misdiagnosed and the majority of patients see more than 3 doctors for more than 10 visits over 18 months before a diagnosis is established.
- Right Diagnosis: Research shows that LBD can be detected early with a careful evaluation. Early, correct diagnosis allows proper management of symptoms, avoids potentially harmful medications, and alleviates caregiver distress. Correct diagnosis also promotes research programs to find better treatments. New research is finding specific patterns of cognitive decline, changes in MRI, and differences in spinal fluid proteins that may increase our ability to make early, accurate diagnoses.
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Treatment:
- LBD patients may have more robust responses to medications typically used for Alzheimer’s disease.
- LBD patients may benefit from medications to improve attention and concentration.
- Treating LBD patients with the wrong medications can lead to serious, sometimes fatal complications.
- Speed: Lewy Body dementia is a more rapidly progressive disease than Alzheimer’s disease. LBD patients experience a more rapid functional decline than Alzheimer’s, with quicker nursing home placement and shorter lifespan.
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Caregiving:
- Caregivers face significant distress, burden and isolation because they are unable to get the help they need.
- The combination of cognitive, motor and behavioral symptoms place severe burden and stress on caregivers who often find themselves socially isolated.
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In a recent study:
- Caregivers reported Moderate to severe burden.
- Eight out of ten caregivers felt the people around them did not understand their burden.
- More than half of spouses reported feelings of isolation.
- Research: The brain cells in LBD patients are affected in a very different way than in Alzheimer's disease. The way neurons communicate with each other are distinctly altered. To address LBD's unique characteristics, special research facilities (see below) focusing on Lewy Body Dementia are opening across the country. Better education for healthcare providers is the most immediate need being filled by the new research facilities.
Expanded research is expected to improve the ability of doctors to diagnose and treat LBD.
Other research is focusing on the burden, unmet needs and distress of LBD caregivers.
In addition, different forms of brain imaging are being investigated to improve the ability to understand the changes in the LBD brain.
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NYU Lewy Body Disease Specialty Center
The information above is based on information provided by New York University Langone Medical Center, which specializes in Lewy Body Dementia.
To meet the challenges of caring for patients with LBD, NYU Langone Medical Center created the first of its kind Comprehensive Lewy Body Dementia Center to provide world-class clinical care and research. James E. Galvin, MD, MPH, Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, Director of Clinical Operations, Center of Excellence on Brain Aging and Director, Pearl Barlow Center for Memory Evaluation and Treatment at NYU School of Medicine is available to discuss Lewy Body Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
About The Pearl Barlow Center for Memory Evaluation and Treatment
The Pearl Barlow Center provides comprehensive diagnostic and patient-care services to persons with memory problems and to their families. The services offered at Barlow encompass best practices in medicine, psychiatry and neurology, including pharmacologic and psychosocial treatments. The Barlow's interdisciplinary medical approach integrated with world class research capabilities provides many advantages to its patients. The Lewy Body Disease Center at NYU Langone Medical Center offers a collaborative, patient-focused approach to diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic evaluations involve both physical and neurological examinations, as well as patient and family interviews (including a detailed lifestyle and medical history) and neuropsychological and mental status tests.
About NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated, academic medical center, is one on the nation’s premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of three hospitals – Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the world’s first university-affiliated facility devoted entirely to rehabilitation medicine; and the Hospital for Joint Diseases, one of only five hospitals in the nation dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology – plus the NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousand of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The medical center’s tri-fold mission to serve, teach and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education and research.
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