Summary
Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) accounts for 10%-15% of dementia cases and has distinct clinical features associated with earlier institutionalisation and a higher level of carer distress than in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Understanding more about the rate of decline of cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms in DLB could help patients and carers to make suitable plans.
This cohort study compared 100 AD and 58 DLB subjects with mild-moderate dementia from 40 European centres to investigate whether DLB is associated with a more rapid cognitive decline than AD. While DLB patients showed more pronounced neuropsychiatric symptoms, and higher levels of carer distress, this study did not find any statistically significant difference in the rate of cognitive or neuropsychiatric decline between the mild-moderate AD and DLB groups. There was no significant difference in the rate of progression between the two conditions.
Reference
Walker, Z. McKeith, I. [and] Rodda, J. [et al] (2012). Comparison of cognitive decline between dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s disease: a cohort study. BMJ Open, February 8th 2012, Vol.2(1), e000380. (Click here to view the PubMed record).
