Wednesday, November 04, 2015

Lewy Body Dementia finally discussed in NYT

Today's New York Times discusses Lewy Body Dementia at a reasonable length for the first time, in "The Arts" section of all places.  It relates to the death of Robin Williams, and the "research" for the article would have required the post teen writers to Google the disease and no more.  Looking at Google for prior mentions of the disease in the NYT show mentions in two articles, one in 2012 and one in 2013, but no more.

As a hybrid of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease with some other unfortunate bells and whistles, Lewy Body is a big deal and a devastating one for those unlucky enough to contract it, and for their relatives and caretakers.  It strangely, for better or worse, leaves the mind intact to know what is going on currently and experience fully the disease even as it erases past memory.  The physical impact is a relatively rapid decline, the mental one slow but sure, and with the added kicker of some of daytime hallucinations and attendant extreme anxiety as they develop. It can be much more aggressive in many ways than Alzheimers.

There are obsessions that are associated with the disease, each to their own "choice".   There is more to be discovered about this disease, one that is well known to most neurologists and all geriatric psychiatrists but not especially to the NYT and the general public.  It must be a lonely disease to have.

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