Lewy Body Dementia

Lewy Body Disease - Often Mistaken For Parkinson Disease

 
Few people have heard of Lewy Body Disease, and even doctors still seem to forget about it when testing patients for dementia.

 While none of these diseases are curable at this time, there are big differences in how they are medically treated.
Drugs for Parkinson's disease can cause a serious deterioration of cognitive functions from those of the Lewy bodies.
 Those being treated with some of the psychiatric medications used to treat Alzheimer's symptoms can develop serious Parkinson's-type symptoms if they in fact have Lewy Body Disease rather than Alzheimer's.
Most people with symptoms of Lewy body disease LBD first visit their doctor because they experience symptoms that are most often as Parkinson's disease.

Experienced doctors who know will  carefully evaluate symptoms and will initially look for a steady loss of short term memory, sleep problems and unusual personality and mood swings.
In addition to these more general symptoms that are common with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, like hallucinations, frequent falls, a shuffling gait, a tendency to lean to one side when sitting or walking, difficulty in finding for the right word Urinary and constipation problems, an impaired sense of direction, poor depth perception, new problems with regulating blood pressure and temperature feeling too hot or too cold, and increased difficulty swallowing are also experienced by some Lewy Body patients.
More and more poor judgment, delusions and bizarre mood  often accompany LBD.

Lewy Body Disease most commonly appears between the ages of 50 and 85.
Although it is slightly more common in men than in women.
 While the physical symptoms can be debilitating for the patient, the biggest challenge for caregivers is usually coping with the mental changes that accompany the disease.

There is no cure for LBD. treatment can be difficult because many patients have a lower tolerance for the kinds of medications that are given to help with the movement and cognitive problems associated with LBD.
Since the LBD patients as sensitive to the drugs routinely prescribed for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, their symptoms worse, and does not get better, it is extremely important that they are under the care of an experienced neurologist or psychiatrist.


It is often a continuing process of making tiny changes to medications before an appropriate treatment program is identified.
If the disease progresses, your doctor will continue to monitor  effectiveness of the program and adjustments.


Because the goal of treatment with Lewy Body Disease is to make the patient as comfortable and content as possible and at the same time to support the needs of caregivers, continuing care from a specialist who understands LBD is vital.
Early diagnosis and treatment increases the for chances to allow the person to  remain at home longer.