![]() The REM sleep disorder occurring in LBD (and some people with Parkinson’s) is much less common in Alzheimer’s.ĥ. Hallucinations and misidentification of people and objects are much more typical in LBD.Ĥ. Movement problems (motor skills and Parkinson’s symptoms) are predominant in Parkinson’s disease and generally evident in LBD, versus walking and balance issues in later-stage Alzheimer’s.ģ. In Lewy body dementia (LBD), problems with planning, judgment and visual perception are more typical, though memory problems will occur as the disease progresses.Ģ. The most prominent symptom in Alzheimer’s disease is memory loss. For more information on dementia, consult the AARP Disrupt Dementia page.ġ. Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center founder and executive director Norma Loeb offers these tips on distinguishing three illnesses often mistaken for each other. The Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center is the only organization in the United States that offers a live helpline for LBD at 51, and more than 8,000 supportive resources on its website at .Ĩ Differences Between Lewy Body Dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's There's a communication that isn't intellectual - it's spiritual.” It's connecting really on a different level. “Some people just didn't understand how I could connect with my mother, who could no longer talk. Try to stay in this moment.” Even when LBD robs someone of rational cognition, there can still be moments of deep emotional connection. Be grateful if you see that smile, when the light switches on. “My advice is to really be so thankful for those blessings on a good day, those moments everyone else takes for granted. Loeb has another piece of advice for those whose loved ones have LBD: Since there will be good days and bad ones, seize the good. You can show them old pictures - anything to distract." If they make a request that doesn't make sense, are having a scary hallucination, or get angry, always try to change the topic. ![]() “One big piece of advice is, do not argue with ,” Loeb says, “because they need to feel that they still have some sense of control. She hopes the film and her organization can help people who do develop LBD as well as their caregivers, who need and deserve a range of coping strategies. The world her mother knew became suddenly foreign, says Loeb: “She'd say, ‘How did they get this apartment to look exactly like my other one? All the furniture is the same.'" Next, she developed Capgras syndrome, mistaking loved ones for impostors. He thought, ‘What the heck is going on?'"įor Loeb, her mother's LBD first manifested in her having trouble balancing her checkbook. “And he had just done Broadway twice a day with hundreds and hundreds of lines and didn't make a single mistake. “When Robin was doing Night at the Museum III, he couldn't remember his very few lines,” says Loeb. He also experienced a sudden onslaught of memory issues. Without knowing why, Robin Williams had mysterious sleep disturbances, thrashing while dreaming. “Susan compares LBD to ‘whack-a-mole,’ because symptoms pop up and disappear,” says Loeb. LBD, which generally affects people over 60, is tricky to diagnose because its multiple symptoms resemble those attributed to other diseases. “That parallels the experience we hear from people with LBD and their loved ones who call our helpline." "Robin struggled with getting the right diagnosis,” says Norma Loeb, who founded the Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center after her mother got the disease she also consulted on Robin's Wish.
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