Lewy Bodies

Question: how can i help control lewy bodies hallucinations? how can i help control lewy bodies hallucinations?

Answer: You need to see a physiologist.They should tell you what to do.....

Question: Is Lewy bodies dementia (alzheimers) terminal? Will it kill someone? And if so how long until? My grandmother was diagnosed with lewy bodies dementia. A form of alzheimers, and I just want to know if it is terminal. If it will kill her, and if so how long until it does. Because I'm scared everyday that she is going to die, and I just need to know some answers.

Answer: This diagnose is not optimistic, sure. Here is the information for you: http://www.choiceeldercare.org/articles/… You can also find Internet associations of those who have this disease to get tips and advices. On later stages you might need a professional home care aid.

Question: DLB dementia with lewy bodies, has anybody first hand experience of this i am a carer and find it extremely ha

Answer: marion try a search online for support groups they maybe can give you help and advice good luck xx

Question: Does Lewy Bodies have a genetic component?

Answer: Lewy Bodies are seen microscopically in brain tissues and are usually associated with Parkinson’s disease. Lewy bodies are tangles of fibers inside a neuron cell body that stain positive with ubiquitin and alpha synuclein. In Parkinson’s disease, these histological anomalies are usually found in the substantia nigra, basal nucleus of Meynert, cingulated gyrus, and the parahippocampal gyrus. While there is no evidence of a genetic component, Parkinson’s disease can show autosomal dominant inheritance.

Question: Does anyone know about Lewy Body Dementia? My father was just diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. We don't know much about this. I was wondering if anyone could explain it a bit to me and if there was a web site other than http://www.lewybodydementia.org/ with news letters. Anything would help. My dad has been threw so much and now this. He really is delusional now. And it hurts just to see him like this and I wanted to see if there was any help out there.

Answer: I don't have any answers for you. Dementia is hardest on the family members who have to watch this disease steal the minds of the ones they love. My heart goes out to you and your family. The web site you listed is an excellent one and answers most of the questions you have. What you need now is a support group. Start looking for support groups for dementia patients. They don't have to be specific for Lewy Body Dementia. Any support groups for families caring for a member with dementia will be a good starting point and they may be able to point you to more specifice groups. Good Luck to you, your family and your dad.

Question: Does anyone know anything about Lewy Body Syndrome? My sister in law has been diagnosed with this. I was wondering how it is different from alzheimers.

Answer: Of course! I had to do a paper on it for my clinicals in Nursing. I have pasted below several really good sites for info. Lewy body is different from Alz. as it is actually a cause of dementia...the most common cause to be exact.

Question: Lewy body dementia and Parkinsons disease (medical students)? Please use lay language. Medical student needs help! Need someone to explain in lay terms how you would differentiate pathologically/histologically and clinically between parkinson's disease and lewy body dementia. Thank you for your help.

Answer: Although some of the answers are readily available, this is a tricky question: I think your best answer is found at the Mayo Clinic in an article about the similarities and differences between the two. This article will tell you that in PDD, the lewy bodies are found in deep brain structure which control movement while in Lewy Body Dementia they are found at all structures - deep, middle and outer structures and involve emotion, behavior, judgement and awareness: http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-edge-n… I've made some notes but I'm not writing a paper for this answer: Lewy bodies = abnormal aggregates of protein which develop within degenerating nerve cells. Lewy bodies develop in regions of the brain involved in cognition and movement. http://www.lbda.org/category/3437/what-i… Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD), which accounts for at least 750,000 patients.Parkinson's Disease Dementia is also a Lewy body dementia. "Lewy bodies appear as spherical masses that displace other cell components. There are two morphological types: classical (brain stem) Lewy bodies and cortical Lewy bodies. A classical Lewy body is an eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion that consists of a dense core surrounded by a halo of 10-nm wide radiating fibrils, the primary structural component of which is alpha-synuclein. In contrast, a cortical Lewy body is less well defined and lacks the halo. Nonetheless, it is still made up of alpha-synuclein fibrils." source: Wikipedia http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lewy-bo… symptoms: visual hallucinations, which can be one of the first signs of the disorder. Hallucinations may range from abstract shapes or colors to conversations with deceased loved ones Visual hallucinations. Seeing colors, shapes, animals or people may be one of the first symptoms of Lewy body dementia. Movement disorders. Parkinson's-like signs may include slowed movement, rigid muscles, tremors or a shuffling walk. Delusions. These may consist of false ideas about another person or situation. Cognitive problems. Alzheimer's-like problems may include confusion, memory loss and reduced attention spans. Sleep difficulties causing the acting out of dreams Histological - ubiquitin immunohistochemistry (autopsy) see: diagram link below Clinical - correlates between sites of neutrite or lewy body pathology, neuronal loss and clinical features. Pathological - neuron loss associated with Lewy body & Lewy neutrite formation without other neuropathological lesions. Pure clinical syndromes occur when Lewy pathology is restricted to one site - when there is a mixed clinical bag with several sites incloved it becomes more complicated Area of Bain...............Clinical Syndrome............Name Nigro-striatal..............Extrapyram… .................PD ................................moveme… disorder Cerebral Cortex.........Cognitive decline...............dementia w/cortical lewy bodies Sympathetic neurons..Autonomic failure..............Primary autonomic failure in spinal cord Dorsal vagal nuclei....Dysphagia.....................… body dysphagia Coincidental Lewy Body disorders: MSA (multiple systems atrophy, Progressive supranuclear palsy, Corticobasal degeneration, motor neuron disease, Hallervorfen-Spatz disease (PKAN), Neuroaxonal dystrophy, Ataxia telangiectasia. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, sporadic AD, familial AD, Down's syndrome diagrams: http://www.pathology.vcu.edu/WirSelfInst… source: Wikipedia: "Pathologically, DLB is characterized by the development of abnormal proteinaceous (alpha-synuclein) cytoplasmic inclusions, called Lewy bodies, throughout the brain. These inclusions have similar structural features to "classical" Lewy bodies seen subcortically in Parkinson's disease. Additionally, there is a loss of dopamine-producing neurons (in the substantia nigra) similar to that seen in Parkinson's disease, and a loss of acetylcholine-producing neurons (in the basal nucleus of Meynert and elsewhere) similar to that seen in Alzheimer's disease. Cerebral atrophy (or shrinkage) also occurs as the cerebral cortex degenerates. Autopsy series have revealed that the pathology of DLB is often concomitant with the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. That is, when Lewy body inclusions are found in the cortex, they often co-occur with Alzheimer's disease pathology found primarily in the hippocampus, including: senile plaques (deposited beta-amyloid protein), and granulovacuolar degeneration (grainy deposits within, and a clear zone around hippocampal neurons). Neurofibrillary tangles (abnormally phosphorylated tau protein) are less common in DLB" Age. Most cases of Lewy body dementia occur in adults older than 60. Sex. Lewy body dementia appears to be more common in men Heredity. If you have a family member with Lewy body dementia, you may be at increased risk of the disease Additional reading: http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/repr… from 1999 a MUST READ including reduced effectiveness of L-dopa and severe sensitivity reactions to neuroleptic drugs. http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/repr… http://www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/c… http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/7045… http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/demen… although not exactly on target, skim through these: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/4317… This is not in my target area so I'm afraid that I can't be of as much help as you need. But do the reading - it certainly raises more questions on my side of the question and answer. Best wishes - you still have a lot of reading and thinking.

Question: Does anyone out there have a friend or family member suffering with Lewy Body Disease? My mother was diagnosed recently------ a type of dementia Has anyone heard that it can effect certain ethnic groups?

Answer: If it's information you are looking for, try these sites: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lewy-bo… http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic91.h…

Question: What is Delta power in the realm of Lewy Body Dementia?

Answer: I am not a neurologist, but delta power in the context of lewy body dementia refers to quantified EEG findings in that disease. From what I understand, it allows the neurologists to assess the severity of the disease, but unfortunately, I am not sure of that. Hope that bit helps!

Question: What is lewy body disease? My mother is dying from this disease.

Answer: http://www.helpguide.org/elder/lewy_body… Hope it helps my prayers are with you and your family.