Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) causes problems with mental abilities and some other difficulties.
The symptoms usually come on gradually. They get worse slowly over several years. Some treatments can help manage symptoms.
Problems with mental abilities
As with other types of dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies causes problems with:
- thinking speed
- understanding
- judgement
- visual perception (making sense of what your eyes see)
- language
- memory (but significant memory loss may not happen until later on)
These problems may be constant but usually they come and go.
Other symptoms
Dementia with Lewy bodies has symptoms that are generally not similar to other types of dementia.
These include:
- hallucinations (seeing or sometimes hearing things that are not there) - these may be pleasant to distressing but often do not cause upset
- changing between alertness and confusion or sleepiness - this can happen unexpectedly over minutes or hours
- slow movement, stiff limbs, tremors and shuffling when walking similar to Parkinson's disease
- fainting, unsteadiness and falls
- disturbed sleep - including talking in your sleep, acting out dreams or sleepiness during the day
- difficulty swallowing
- depression
Daily activities become increasingly difficult. Dementia with Lewy bodies can cause further health problems. For example, an injury after a fall or a chest infection caused by food if swallowing is impaired.
Non-urgent advice: Contact your GP if:
- you think you have symptoms of dementia
Your GP can do some checks to try to find out the cause of your symptoms. They may refer you to a specialist for further tests.
If you're worried about someone else, encourage them to contact their GP. You could suggest that you go with them.
Content supplied by the NHS and adapted for Ireland by the HSE
