Dementia is a brain disorder that affects millions of people in the United States. It is a serious, progressive brain disease that affects thinking abilities, behavior changes, forgetfulness, and difficulty remembering things.
Dementia has many types, such as
• Alzheimer’s disease.
• Vascular dementia.
• Lewy body disease.
• frontotemporal dementia.
• Alcohol-related dementia.
• Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.
• HIV-associated dementia.
• Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) dementia.
While Alzheimer’s disease is most common among them.
What is Lewy body Dementia?
Lewy body Dementia (LBD) is a serious, progressive brain disease that occurs due to the deposition of abnormal proteins called Lewy bodies in the brain. These deposits of negativity affect brain functioning, which affects thinking abilities, difficulty remembering things, cognitive abilities, movement difficulty, and other neurological symptoms.
LBD is a chronic mental disease that progresses gradually and slowly over time.
Lewy body dementia (LBD) progresses in seven stages, while symptoms gradually worsen over a period of time.
7 stages of lewy body dementia:
Stage 01: No Cognitive Decline:
Stage 1 often refers to a non-cognitive stage where symptoms remain unnoticeable. dementia-causing abnormal proteins called Lewis bodies started to deposit in the brain, but they haven’t reached a certain level to cause symptoms. Hence, this stage is totally unnoticeable and remains undetected by the doctor, relatives, and even the patient itself.
Stage 02: Very Mild Cognitive Decline:
In Stage 2, some neurological symptoms may be experienced by the individual, such as mild short-term memory loss, difficulty in concentration,mild irritability, and difficulty recognizing familiar objects.
These symptoms may be very mild and can remain unnoticed, and due to increasing age, their family members think it’s may be due to the age factor. Hence, it’s difficult to diagnose the disease at the second stage.
Stage 03: Mild Cognitive Decline:
In the third stage of the disease, mild neurological symptoms may begin to appear. A loved one may notice a change in the person who is developing Lewy body dementia, such as
Memory loss, forgetfulness, confusion, and difficulty concentrating—in the 3rd stage, diagnosis may be easy as relatives and loved ones notice symptoms and seek the opinion of health care professionals to rule out the disease.
Stage 04: Moderate Cognitive Decline:
In this stage, individuals experience moderate symptoms that affect their daily routine, like financing, completing tasks individually,navigating to a new location, or taking decisions for themselves.
People dealing with Lewy body dementia are mostly diagnosed with this disease at stage four, as individuals and their family members notice significant changes and moderately noticeable symptoms and consult a doctor. The doctor evaluates the symptoms with the help of a symptom, examination, blood test, and imaging.
Stage 05: Moderately Severe Cognitive Decline:
In this phase, individuals experience significant changes or declines in their neurological and cognitive abilities, which impact their daily routine. Individuals may need assistance to complete their daily tasks and activities, like eating, walking, and dressing. Individuals may experience hallucinations and delusions.
Stage 06: Severe Cognitive Decline:Â
In this stage, individuals suffer a lot of problems and drastically change their cognitive and neurological symptoms, which significantly impact their daily routine. In the 6th stage, individuals may only remember their childhood memories. and due to significant changes in their cognitive abilities, they may lose control of their bladder and GIT tract and pass urine and stool involuntarily. Hallucinations and delirium may increase, and a person may become dependent on another person to care.
Stage 07: Very Severe Cognitive Decline:
At this stage, patients with lewy body dementia experience severe cognitive symptoms that make them highly dependent on other people in every aspect of their lives. individual lost their physical and cognitive abilities and required 24/7 care.
This stage typically lasts for about 2–3 years, and patients lose their ability to communicate, understand, and are often unable to even walk.
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It’s important to note that the progression of every disease and its symptoms can vary from person to person. Some people may progress quickly, while others may remain in the first or second stage of the disease for a longer period of time. It totally depends on an individual’s immunity, co-morbidities, other health-related issues, willpower, and much more.
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Early diagnosis and treatment of Lewis body dementia are important to control in the early stages so that progression may stop or slow or the patient may get a complete cure.
