Dementia with Lewy bodies progresses quickly and symptoms vary from person to person. Early stages may include motor disability, hallucinations, sleep disturbances, and REM sleep behavior disorder. Later stages may include difficulty swallowing and malnutrition. The average lifespan after diagnosis is five to seven years.
The stages of dementia with Lewy bodies generally begin with a motor disability before progressing to more obvious signs of dementia, including forgetfulness, confusion, loss of speech, and a blank facial expression. Some who are affected by this brain disorder may also experience hallucinations, sleep disturbances and body tremors in the early stages. Symptoms vary among individuals with this progressive condition, with some who are in the early stages showing no signs of dementia or showing very fleeting symptoms. Individuals in the early stages may also experience similar symptoms to someone in the late stages, such as incontinence and difficulty swallowing. Not all people with dementia with Lewy bodies have the same symptoms; the stages of this condition, therefore, tend to vary from person to person and are not always predictable.
As a progressive brain disorder, the stages of Lewy body dementia can come on quite quickly. In its early stages, symptoms may vary from day to day or even moment to moment. A person may seem fine one moment, but suddenly experience an onset of extreme confusion the next.
Also evident in the early stages of this brain disorder is a disorder known as REM sleep behavior disorder, or RBD. Research has even indicated that RBD may be a precursor to dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Symptoms of this disorder include moving and talking during sleep. Upon awakening, a person with DLB shows marked signs of confusion. This condition is due to the protein alpha-synuclein or ubiquitin which has disturbed brain chemistry by collecting in neurons.
Sometimes characterized as Parkinson’s disease dementia, the various stages of dementia with Lewy bodies often mimic the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. For example, a person’s gait may change as they begin to walk more slowly or even shuffle as they walk. Body tremors, staring into space, and drooling are also common in various stages, but occur more frequently during the in-between stages.
During the latter stages, a person may have difficulty chewing and swallowing due to poor muscle control and may need to be fed intravenously. Individuals in this stage often become dehydrated or experience problems related to malnutrition and constipation. Because the stages of Lewy body dementia aren’t necessarily gradual, these symptoms can come on quite suddenly and even seemingly unexpectedly.
Unlike other forms of dementia, DLB progresses rather rapidly. A person with this disorder usually dies within 20 to 20 years of the onset of the Lewy body dementia stages. The average life span of a person with this condition, however, typically ranges from five to seven years after the initial diagnosis.
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