Comparing Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's Disease

Same same...but different. Both Parkinson's and Lewy Body Dementia share similar pathologies when studied down the microscope and clinically they can be very similar. However, there are important differences that should be appreciated.

[@angelobrattoli4663]

Thank you very much for this presentation. My ex wife is a second generation sufferer of what has been diagnosed as Parkinson's Plus. Our son first noticed his mother struggling with basic memory and cognitive function when he would be home from college on holiday. My ex wife was in her mid fifties at the time. She is now 64. She was formally diagnosed with Parkinson's at approximately age 58. While the traditional symptoms of Parkinson's (tremors, difficulty walking) were mild and easily controlled by medication. Her cognitive decline was fairly rapid and facilitated the need for me to move in with her at the start of the global pandemic. As she declined over the next two years. She exhibited and continues to exhibit literally all four of the Lewy Body symptoms you described. The pandemic was in a way a blessing. As it allowed me to care for her at home and maintain my job via work from home. When I turned 65. I simply retired. Sadly, after 3 plus years, the mental and physical strain of caring for her took its toll. My son and I had to make the difficult decision of placing her in the memory care unit of an assisted living facility. The good news is that she has thrived in that environment. Her days are filled with activities and she is surrounded by genuinely loving and caring care givers. As you said in your presentation, while the differentiation between Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's based Dementia matters little to those impacted. As a person who has watched someone they deeply love and care about be ravaged by this terrible condition. It is and has been important to me to understand how this happened. And also to understand, so as to better deal with, the ongoing progression of this horrific and unforgiving disease. Your brief presentation has provided me with knowledge so I can better understand and prepare for what is to come. For that, I thank you.

[@williamschumann4897]

I can relate to your story. My wife of 39yrs passed 64yrs, 5/09/23 after a 18 month brutal battle. I was capable physically as her primary care-giver, HOSPICE guidance last 6 months. Now 6 months since her passing, now day to day struggle to move forward at 65. My thoughts, prayers for you and your Son.

[@marieordos]

My mom had her first hallucination that I know of in 2010 and lived with Lewy body until January 2022. She was able to hide it so well.

[@relle2181]

Excellent explanation on what is usually a very confusing subject. Summed it up very succinctly, thank you 🤝

[@allmediaservices430]

Thank you, that was very helpful to me in understanding what is going on with my father.

[@wendypetersen7529]

My 94 year old father lives with us. His doctor says he has Parkinsons Disease and I disagree. I think he has LBD. He has three of those four core problems and hallucinations/delusions that came on only over the past few months. He was brought home by the police at 3:30 in the morning last week - determined that someone had come into the house and told him to evacuate, and he refuses to believe it didn't happen.

[@Goldskool]

this exactly what i needed to hear my mother was diagnose with Parkinson @ over 80 ,,,around 3 years she doesn't show any Dementia or else.

[@deirdrevisser6955]

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[@deirdrevisser6955]

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[@deirdrevisser6955]

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[@ginamoser8757]

My mother-in-law was diagnosed with Parkinson's about 5 years ago but I have a lit of questions about that. 1st. The Dr that diagnosed her made that conclusion on her first visit with him. 2nd she has only shown one of the effects of Parkinson which is the stiffness. 3rd all she does is sleep and has started spitting up its not vomit. And my last question is how do we talk to the Dr about LBD without being shot down right away. I just move to be closer to her and take care of her and found out she has been going to her Dr appointments by herself and I just started going with her to try and understand what is going on. I would say the past 6 months to year I have seen her health going down fast.

[@wendypetersen7529]

I have had a similar experience with my father. The Dr. met him the first time today and diagnosed Parkinson's. He's been having hallucinations and delusions for month, and is only now beginning to show a very slight tremor in one hand. He was brought home by the police a few weeks ago at 3:30 a.m. absolutely convinced that someone had come into the house and told him to evacuate - so he did. He is still convinced it really happened and the police were abusing their authority. I don't suppose at his age the diagnosis really makes a difference, but when I suggested LBD I definitely got the message that she didn't care what I thought.

[@brendafiorito1885]

My husband has had Parkinson's disease for 10 years. Last spring his primary doctor said he had free radical proteins after a blood test. The next thing we knew, they set him up with a cancer doctor who said, no, he was anemic. Either it's a money scam toward medicare or his primary doctor can't handle anemia, which was just adding an iron tablet. Can a Syn-one test tell something more?

[@neurosciencegirl]

Great explanation

[@latebloomer7191]

Aren't the medications, especially the anti-psychotics, different for LBD vs PDD? And, isn't it possible that LBD patients develop far lesser/later severe PD movement symptoms? And, what about the autonomic nervous system symptoms of LBD? Are those similar to PD?

[@llwpeaches]

This person's video is not accurate and contains out of date and misleading information. PDD is a subset of Lewy Body Dementia. As is Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), which presents first with dementia-like symptoms and the person may or may not go on to develop Parkinsonian symptoms. Whereas PDD requires a preexisting diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in addition to the development of dementia symptoms at least one year after the PD diagnosis, though some with PD do not go on to develop dementia symptoms and would simply retain the diagnosis of PD as opposed to LBD/PDD. If a person is diagnosed with LBD, regardless if they are DLB or PDD, antipsychotics should be avoided, especially 1st generation antipsychotics as there is heightened risk for neuroleptic malignant syndrome and a risk of worsening delirium. If the symptoms of delirium and hallucinations are severe, a couple of antipsychotics are recommended if used very cautiously. Though first line treatment for management of cognitive functioning are the cholinesterase inhibitors. As far as autonomic dysfunction, both DLB and PDD can have these symptoms though they are often seen to a greater degree in people with PDD, which makes sense as the proliferation of neuronal destruction in PDD is initially focused in the brainstem which regulates autonomic functions. Those with DLB who go on to develop more Parkinsonian symptoms often develop more autonomic dysfunction as well. Hope this helps. 🙂

[@JustineAdlong]

Lewy Body Dementia includes Parkinson's Dementia.