Download - What Is Lewy Body Dementia
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Lewy Body Dementia
An Emerging Disease
Part 1:
What is it?
Presented by
The Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc.
Increasing Knowledge Sharing Experience Building Hope
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Dementia is:A set of symptoms that includes a decline in mental abilities
Degenerative:
Progressive decline
Treatable but not curable
Most common
Alzheimer's: 50% of all dementias
LBD: 15-20% of all dementias
Non-progressive:
Abrupt decline
Often reversible
Most common
Vascular: 15-20% of all dementias
Many others
Alzheimer's LBD Vascular Others
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
LBD isn’t Alzheimer’s Disease!
But it may accompany Alzheimer’s
AD LBD
Brain Autopsy
Placques and Tangles
Lewy bodies
Action weakens, then strangles
extracts acetylcholine from nerve cells.
Result general decline fluctuating symptoms
Kills brain cells
indiscriminately selectively
Lethal yes not specifically
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Lewy body in neuron of brain.
Red areas: where Lewy bodies are found in brain.
Lewy bodies are: Very tiny abnormal protein structures.
The kind of symptoms (and the disease) depends on where the bodies reside in the brain
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Lewy body dementia (LBD)(often called Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)
Parkinson’s disease (PD)
Parkinson’s disease with dementia (PDD)
LBD is a member of the Lewy Body Disease Family
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Disease name
Location in brain
Function controlled Symptoms
LBDCerebral cortex
Cognition (memory, thinking) Dementia
PDSubstantia
nigra MotorMovement problems
PDD Both Both Both
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Why haven’t we heard of LBD before now?
1912 Lewy discovered abnormal proteins in motor areas while looking for a cause for Parkinson’s disease.(First discovery of Lewy bodies)
1984 Kosaka found Lewy bodies in cognitive areas. (First description of Lewy body dementia)
1996 First formal clinical diagnosis of LBD published.(When the neurologists began to recognize of LBD)
2004 “Dementia with Lewy bodies” received a CPT billing code.(When the physicians began to diagnose LBD.)
2006 PDD-DLB Conference in Washington DC. Agreement
that PDD and DLB are essentially the same disease.(When the scientists began to equate LBD and PDD)
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed
Tomography)
Confirmed diagnosis only possible with brain autopsyClinical diagnosis is via a set of symptoms
Brain scans can be used to assist diagnosis•Generally only in research studies in US•Available/reliable in Europe
PET (Positron Emission Tomography)
How do we know it’s LBD?
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
LBD DiagnosisDementia: Must be present for any LBD/PDD diagnosis
Core FeaturesFluctuating cognition
Recurrent visual hallucinationsParkinsonism
Suggestive FeaturesREM sleep behavior disorder (RBD)
Abnormal result on brain scans (PET, SPECT)
DiagnosisProbable: Dementia and 2 core, or
1 core and 1 or more suggestive symptoms
Possible: Dementia and only 1 core feature, or 1 or more suggestive symptoms
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Other symptoms likely to occur with LBD(but not used for diagnosis)
Autonomic problems
Falls
Unresponsiveness
Other hallucinations
Urinary system problems
Delusions
Anger, depression, sadness
Difficulty swallowing
Excessive daytime sleeping
Restless Leg Syndrome
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
The Lewy Body Dementia Association also offers:
Part 2: Symptoms
Part 3: Management and Treatment
Part 4: The LBDA and other resources
Part 5: Caregiver Care
This concludes Part 1 of Lewy Body Dementia, An Emerging Disease
© 2007, The Lewy Body Dementia Association
Office Phone: 404-935-6444Office Email: [email protected]: www.lbda.orgHelpline phone: 800-539-9767
800-LEWY-SOSHelpline email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 451429Atlanta, GA 31145
Contacting the LBDA
Thank You for your participation in this learning experience.
Increasing Knowledge Sharing Experience Building Hope
