Dementia with Lewy-Bodies (DLB)

http://memory.ucsf.edu/Education/Disease/dlb.html

Hi Al, very nice to meet you. Thank you for posting I will read the rest tomorrow. What I did get into gave me pause to read more. thanks again.

Jo

Sorry to sound so dumb, but what is Lewy-Bodies?

I will try once more. What is Lewy-Bodies Disease?

I will lay it on the fact that I am very tired. lol Thankss all, Jo

Hi Jo,

Nice to meet you!

Well, as I said in a prev. post, Alz, etc is new to me, so I'm just learning as I go. As I understand, Dementia w/ Lewy-Bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia, 2nd most frequent cause of dementia. Alz is #1. These Lewy-Bodies are lumps of protein found in the nerve cells of the brain.

Evidently DLB has symptoms associated with Alz & Parkinson's Disease (PD) - so, docs don't know if it's a complete separate entity OR if it's a form of Alz or PD.

Because there are so many overlaps, it's difficult for the docs to really diagnose (dx) this. The only way to get a definite dx - is to do an autopsy.

More info on DLB:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_with_Lewy_bodies

I am only summarizing from the document I posted, I'm sorry I can't be much more help than that. I'm sure I'll be learning more as time goes on.

Al, you posting and trying to help me understand how and what things are has meant much to me.

It's hard to explain to others how the time factor rules within a disease. For example, I was about to go down the drain, MIL didn't sleep, "she roamed" she locked us out of the house one night, she would be up in the kitchen with a sharp knife etc. We got a baby monitor so we could hear her getting up. that helped but didn't give me any sleep.

I finally went to her neuro and asked if he could give her something for sleep. He gave her Ambein. It helped, but some night it was like she had not taken it at all.

Having others care means more than you can know, but it will get you down as well, no matter how you try. Keep an eye out for wife and make sure she get her rest. She is special as well as you. than you Al, JoJo

Do either one you know if it is treatable? The Dr. just diagnosed my grandfather with DLB and I want to know everything possible on it. The Dr. said that there was nothing they could do but I refuse to believe that.

I am trying to make sense of my mom's written medical diagnosis/report-and I am so confused!! One doctor told me on the phone Alzheimers and start Aricept meds, now, the other doctor/psychlogist report says Dementia. No mri or other tests were done, exept a ct scan was done. should I ask for a brain Mri? or what test is for the dlb? my mom is only 68 when we noticed the memory issues happening and told her PCP, who dismissed it and said it was just "normal aging" which, we now know, it was NOT. any help/is apprecaiated1 thank u