What is Lewy body dementia?

The deaths of famous actors and media moguls such as Sir Patrick Stewart, Robin Williams and Ted Turner have put the spotlight on the condition called Lewy body dementia.

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Lewy body dementia (LBD) is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s, the Mayo Clinic says

The Lewy Body Dementia Association said that more than 1 million people have the disease, but few people may know about it and its symptoms.

Protein deposits called Lewy bodies, or abnormal protein deposits, collect in the nerve cells in the brain and affect thinking, memory and movement, according to the Mayo Clinic. The term Lewy body dementia is an umbrella term for all diseases that have Lewy bodies, the LBDA said.

LBD’s most common symptoms include:

• Impaired thinking, memory, or ability to understand visual information.
• Issues with cognition, attention or alertness.
• Problems with movement
• Visual hallucinations.
• Sleep disorders
• Behavioral and mood issues
• Changes in automatic body functions, such as blood pressure, temperature, bladder, and bowel function.

The symptoms are treatable with medication and “early and accurate diagnosis is essential,” the LBDA said.

Early diagnosis may improve a person’s quality of life, but doctors need more education and more research into the disease is needed, the organization said.

According to the Lewy Body Resource Center, LBD symptoms can be misdiagnosed as they frequently mimic those of Parkinson’s disease, psychiatric conditions, and other types of dementia. That is what happened in William’s case, the group said. He thought he had Parkinson’s and depression, but his autopsy found “one of the most severe LBD cases pathologists had seen,” the Lewy Body Resource Center said.

Other well-known people who died of Lewy body dementia include:

• Estelle Getty
• Tom Seaver
• Casey Kasem
• Dina Merrill
• Nathalie Baye