About Lewy Body Dementia

What is Lewy Body Dementia (LBD)?
LBD affects an estimated 1.4 million individuals and their families in the U.S. and is the most costly form of dementia.

Because LBD symptoms can closely resemble other more commonly known diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, it is currently widely underdiagnosed. Many doctors or other medical professionals still are not familiar with LBD.

LBD is a progressive brain disorder in which Lewy bodies - abnormal deposits of a protein called alpha-synuclein - build up in areas of the brain that regulate behavior, cognition, and movement.

A complex disease, LBD can present with a range of physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms including problems with thinking, memory, moving, sleep and/or changes in behavior. LBD also affects autonomic body functions, such as blood pressure control, temperature regulation, and bladder and bowel function. Progressively debilitating, LBD can also cause people to experience visual hallucinations or act out their dreams.

What Causes LBD?
The causes of LBD are not yet well understood, but research is ongoing in this area. There are likely multiple factors, genetic and environmental, that combine with natural aging processes to make someone susceptible to LBD.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of LBD?
This condition impairs thinking, such as memory, executive function (planning, processing information), or the ability to understand visual information. Patients with LBD may have fluctuations in attention or alertness; problems with movement including tremors, stiffness, slowness and difficulty walking; hallucinations; and alterations in sleep and behavior.

Who was Lewy?
In the early 1900s, while researching Parkinson's disease, the scientist Friederich H. Lewy discovered abnormal protein deposits that disrupt the brain's normal functioning. These Lewy body proteins were found in an area of the brain stem where they deplete the neurotransmitter dopamine, causing Parkinsonian symptoms. In Lewy body dementia, these abnormal proteins are diffused throughout other areas of the brain, including the cerebral cortex, depleting acetylcholine, causing disruption of perception, thinking and behavior. Lewy body dementia exists either in pure form, or in conjunction with other brain changes, including those typically seen in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.