Lewy Body Dementia: Warning Signs You Should Never Miss

Lewy body dementia (LBD) is the second most common form of gradual dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease being the first. It causes a continual and progressive decline in mental and cognitive functioning and abilities. LBD can also bring on hallucinations that will generally take on the form of objects, animals or people that aren’t there. These hallucinations could lead the sufferer to have imaginary conversations with deceased loved ones.

Another indicator of LBD is a substantial variation in awareness and attention span. People with Lewy body dementia could have decreased daytime alertness and periods of staring off into space. LBD could also result in similarities that would be common in Parkinson’s and these include stiffening of the muscles, reduced or slowed movements and tremors and/or shaking.

Symptoms Of Lewy Body Dementia

The signs and symptoms associated with this disease may include the following things:

• Depression: Depression can be experienced at any time during the course of this disease.
• Fluctuating attention: An individual may have frequent episodes of drowsiness, long periods of staring off into space, long naps during the day and slurry, disorganized speech.
• Sleeping disturbances: A person could have a sleep disorder called rapid eye movement (REM), which is a sleeping behavioral disorder that may cause acting out during dreams.
• Cognitive issues: The cognitive issues related to LBD can involve thinking problems similar to what a person would experience with Alzheimer’s disease, such as confusion, reduced attention span and eventual memory loss.
• Visual hallucinations: It’s possible that a person with LBD could have hallucinations and see colors, shapes, animals or people that aren’t really there. Additionally, this could be the first symptom of the disease and some people may experience auditory, tactile or olfactory hallucinations as well.
• Movement disorders: It’s possible to experience symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease like slowed movements, stiff muscles, shaking and/or a shuffling gait.
• Poor regulation of bodily functions: The nervous system controls blood pressure, pulse, sweating and the digestive process and all of these can be affected by Lewy body dementia. It can cause a person to fall, experience dizziness and lose control over bowel and bladder functions.

See Also: Are You At Risk For Dementia?

Causes

The precise cause of Lewy body dementia is unknown, but it is felt it might be related to Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease. Lewy bodies contain a protein that is associated with Parkinson’s disease. These bodies are also found in the brains of people with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other dementias. People who have Lewy bodies in their brains also have the tangles and plaques associated with Alzheimer’s.

Lewy Body Dementia: Risk Factors

Although LBD is of unknown etiology, several things appear to increase one’s risk of developing the disease. These risks include being older than 60 years of age, being a male and having a family member who has the disease.

Diagnosis

An experienced clinician should be able to perform diagnostic testing to determine if someone has this disease or not. If necessary, a person may have to visit a neurologist at the nearest medical university to be able to be referred to the right resources or to be provided with a diagnostic team with knowledge of Lewy body dementia.

Interviews may be conducted with the patient and their family in order to have detailed information about the person’s lifestyle and medical history. Other neuro-psychological and mental status tests may also be conducted.

LBD Treatment And Management

While there is no cure or prevention for LBD, there are some symptoms that will respond to treatment for a period of time. A person will receive a comprehensive treatment plan which can include medications, physical and occupation therapies and counseling. There are no specific treatments that can slow down or stop the onset of brain cell damage caused by LBD. Treatment considerations involving medicines will include the following issues:

• Antipsychotic medications: These drugs should be used with extreme cautiousness in people with LBD. Although doctors sometimes prescribe these drugs for behavioral symptoms that occur with Alzheimer’s, they may cause some serious side effects in people with Lewy body dementia.
• Cholinesterase inhibitors: These drugs are the mainstay for treating the cognitive changes caused by Alzheimer’s disease, but can also help certain ones associated with LBD.
• Antidepressants: There are many types of antidepressants used to treat the depression that’s common with LBD, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The ones most often used are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs.
• Clonazepam: This medication may be used to treat rapid eye movement sleep disorders.

Lifestyle Changes

People with Lewy body dementia and other forms of cognitive impairments will experience symptoms and progression differently. The techniques used for caring for these individuals will vary.

• Enunciate communications: When speaking with someone with LBD, a caregiver should maintain eye contact and speak slowly. Use simple sentences and do not rush someone to respond to you. Present one idea at a time and use gestures if needed, to help the person understand what you are trying to say.
• Encourage games and thinking activities: Try to get the person to participate in thinking games and other activities to utilize thinking skills, it may help slow down cognitive decline in those with dementia.
• Establish bedtime rituals: Many people with Lewy body dementia experience sleep disturbances. Behavioral issues could be much worse at night, so it is a good idea to try to establish bedtime rituals that are calming and keep noise to a minimum. It’s also a good idea to leave the lights on just in case the person wakes up and may become disoriented.
• Exercise: It’s well known that exercise benefits everyone, including those with dementia. The benefits of exercise for someone with LBD include improvement of physical function, alleviation of depression symptoms and more controlled behavior. Some researchers believe physical activity can slow the progress of dementia.

See Also: Vascular Dementia: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

LBD Prognosis

It’s not easy to live with Lewy body dementia. It not only affects the person who has it, but it also impacts the entire family. If you are a spouse or child of a parent who has been diagnosed with LBD, you’re not alone. You should share this diagnosis with those closest to you in order to have a support system. Become knowledgeable about the disease in order to help your partner and be an advocate to help them receive the best possible care and treatment.