During the examination, the doctor will try to rule out other possible explanations for the physical and mental symptoms. These can include Parkinson’s, tumors, strokes or other brain issues that may cause similar issues to Lewy’s Body Dementia. To do so, the doctor will look at the patient’s reflexes, balance, eye movements and sense of touch, all of the indicative of brain issues.
In addition to the physical tests and oral exam, some doctors ask the patient to take a short test to measure thinking and memory skills. This is a 10-minute test that is usually performed in the doctor’s office and then compared to a baseline profile performance of other people who match the patient’s age and education levels. This will help the doctor determine whether any impairment is a normal part of aging or indicative of a more serious issue.
If a patient’s confusion fluctuates, the doctor may perform an EEG to make sure that seizures or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are a possible cause. The latter is a degenerative brain disease that causes dementia. There may also be a request for an MRI, CT or other scan to look at brain activity, and a sleep evaluation to monitor that activity.
TREATMENTS
Although there is no cure for Lewy Body Dementia, there are medications that may slow the progression. These include such Alzheimer’s disease medications as rivastigmine (Exelon), which increase the chemical messengers in the brain that are believed to aid memory. That can help with alertness issues, and may reduce the hallucinations of Lewy’s.
Some Parkinson’s disease medications, such as Sinernet, can help with the issues of rigid muscles and slow shuffling, while antipsychotic medications, such as Seroquel, Zyprexa and others, may help with easing the hallucinations and delusions of Lewy’s. The medications are administered cautiously, as some Lewy’s Body Dementia patients have severe reactions to the medications, increasing their confusion and Parkinson’s symptoms.