What is Lewy body dementia?

Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart's passing has brought an endless line of tributes, but it's also raising awareness about one of the diseases he died from, Lewy body dementia. You can think of Lewy body dementia as a mix between Parkinson's disease and dementia. Lewy body dementia happens when there are abnormal clumps of a protein called alpha synuclein that build up inside the brain. These protein deposits can block the signals that help us think, They can get a tremor, they can get stiffness remember and move our bodies. and slowness of their movements and have difficulties with walking and balance. Unlike Alzheimer's, memory loss isn't always a telltale symptom. One of the early signs can be sleep disturbances. Vivid dreams, nightmares, sleep enactments. They may be awake overnight and they may sleep during the day. Another one can be visual hallucinations. And as the disease progresses, so can the severity. At the beginning, it can be seeing insects when they're not there, and it can evolve into seeing faces, seeing movements. And in some cases, people cannot be convinced that they are not real. And diagnosing Lewy body dementia can be hard. It often coexists with other forms of the disease, most often Alzheimer's. Patrick Stewart's spokesperson says he had a brief journey with both. Many people with Alzheimer's disease can develop features of Lewy body dementia as the disease progresses and if you develop any form of dementia after the age of 65 the reality is it's usually not one pathology that's causing the dementia but a mixture. While there is no treatment that can help slow the progression of the disease, there are medications that can help manage symptoms.