Ted Turner, Robin Williams, "The Brightest Person in the Room" - Does someone you love have Lewy Body Dementia?
LONG BEACH, N.Y., Oct. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ted Turner this past week announced he has Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) and has joined over 1.4 million Americans affected by this very challenging brain disease. Robin Williams' autopsy revealed he was misdiagnosed and suffered with LBD. "Caregivers whose loved ones battle LBD know how hard it is to get the right diagnosis that often affects "the brightest person in the room," reports Norma Loeb, founder and executive director of the Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center (LBDRC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
"Though the disease is widely misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or a psychiatric disorder, it is far from rare. It is especially important to be diagnosed correctly since people with LBD have an extreme sensitivity to certain medications that can make them much worse," says Ms. Loeb. There are ways health care professionals and caregivers can be alert to the symptoms and gain proper diagnosis. Symptoms include: fluctuations in cognitive ability, slowness of movement, difficulty walking, or rigidity (parkinsonism), visual hallucinations, REM sleep behavior disorder in which people physically act out their dreams, and extreme sensitivity to medications used to treat hallucinations and other issues. LBDRC offers the only live helpline for LBD in the country as well as a comprehensive website of resources and information.
The organization is hosting its first Conference on October 16(th) at Sarabeth's in New York City. The conference is recommended for health care professionals, caregivers and the general public and will be presented in three panels. The first panel will consist of New York medical experts: Dr. Joyce F. Fogel, Division Chief of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai Beth Israel; Dr. Vicki L. Shanker, Neurologist and Movement Disorder Specialist, Mount Sinai Beth Israel; Dr. Stella Karantzoulis, Neuropsychologist and Founder, The Brain Center; and Yael Zweig, Adult and Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, NYU Langone Medical Center. For details: www.lewybodyresourcecenter.org or 516-218-2026.
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SOURCE Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center
