Top Dementia Expert Warns of Lewy Body Dementia on The Aging Boomers

Sacramento, California (PRWEB) February 04, 2015

Most people have heard of Alzheimers, but few had heard of Lewy Body Dementia until Robin Williams death put Lewy Body in the news.

Top dementia expert Teepa Snow said Williams loss highlighted the need for further education about Lewy Body Dementia. Snow and her organization, Positive Approach, provide dementia care training and education to organizations and caregivers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

We want to raise awareness about Lewy Body Dementia, because its so poorly understood, yet around 20 to 25% of everybody with dementia has some Lewy Body involvement, said Snow, speaking to Frank Samson, host of The Aging Boomers and owner of Senior Care Authority.

Lewy Body dementia is the second most common form of dementia, affecting an estimated 1.3 million Americans, Snow said. Its also the most frequently missed as a diagnosis and misdiagnosed type of dementia, since it shares symptoms with Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

Snow described some of the key symptoms of Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), saying, "if you have five of these behavioral symptoms, on autopsy, 90 to 95 percent of the time well find that sure enough, you had some Lewy Body.

The symptoms:

Early Diagnosis is Key While it may take more than a year or two for enough symptoms to develop for a doctor to diagnose LBD, Snow emphasized the importance of pursuing an early diagnosis, since people with LBD are extremely sensitive and may react negatively to medications used to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

LBD is most frequently misidentified as a psychiatric illness, she said, and it may be treated as schizophrenia.

The medications used to treat schizophrenia can be deadly for someone with LBD, she said, and the medications for Parkinsons patients to treat movement problems can increase hallucinations and delusional thinking in someone with LBD.

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Top Dementia Expert Warns of Lewy Body Dementia on The Aging Boomers