More common from the age of 50, Lewy body dementia is a neuro-evolving disease that affects the cognitive functions of the brain and resembles Alzheimer’s. The former weather presenter Catherine Laborde is suffering from it. What are the symptoms ? Treatments ? What evolution? Is it hereditary?
[Mise à jour le 9 mai 2022 à 10h44] Lewy body disease represents 20% of neuro-evolutionary diseases in France. Much research is being done to improve its diagnosis and management. The former TF1 weather presenter Catherine Laborde is affected. aged 71 years oldshe stays “always brave” as her sister Françoise Laborde wrote in a post instagram May 8, 2022, Catherine Laborde’s birthday.
In the show “seven to eight“October 4, 2020, the latter confided in this disease “Who’s going to win at some point” .“It’s a shame, I would have liked it to last a long time. But I know there is a time when it has to stop”. Catherine Laborde was diagnosed in 2014. “It’s an extremely painful state, like I have a weight to bear, whether I agree or not.”
Also called “diffuse Lewy body disease” or “Lewy body dementia”, Lewy body disease is a neurodegenerative disease that can occur in both men and women. from 50 years old. “Lewy’s body is a lesion in the brain found in Lewy body disease, but also in Parkinson disease. While in the latter, these lesions affect the structures involved in motricity, in Lewy body disease, they are found mainly in the cerebral cortex and cause cognitive impairment“, explains Mathieu Ceccaldi, professor in the Department of Neurology and Neuropsychology at the CHU de la Timone in Marseille. This disease causes in particular memory problems, and as such, may resemble Alzheimer’s disease. “This disease would be the second leading cause of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease.”
One of the first symptoms of this disease concerns memory, “or more specifically the lack of immediate attention”, nuance Professor Ceccaldi. Affected individuals may also develop in the early stages of the disease motor disorders. The disease often causes visual hallucinations accompanying the onset of cognitive disorders, sometimes from the start of the disease, whereas in the case of Alzheimer’s, they manifest themselves more at a more advanced stage. “But what particularly characterizes this disease is the symptom fluctuation. Patients alternate between phases where they are fine and phases where they are confused.” And this, in the same day or in just a few hours. This is one of the major differences with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Another difference: there is lots of trouble sleeping like the nightmares from the onset of the disease whereas in the case of Alzheimer’s it is rather at the end.
The reasons for the occurrence of this disease are not yet well known. But it is not a hereditary disease. “However, in the same family, people can be affected by Parkinson’s disease and others by Lewy body disease. In these cases, which are quite rare, there may be a genetic susceptibility”continues Professor Ceccaldi.
It is neurologists who make the diagnosis and then follow patients with this disease. “The diagnosis is clinical. Neuro-psychological tests can also contribute to making the diagnosis. Then, as for Alzheimer’s disease, we will carry out other examinations to rule out other problems, of a vascular nature for example”, says Professor Ceccaldi. In addition to conventional brain imaging, such as MRI, we can also, in some cases, use nuclear medicine examinations.
Avoid giving neuroleptics to patients
It is not not possible to cure this disease, nor to slow down its progression. Only treatments to alleviate the symptoms can be prescribed, by a neurologist of course. “In particular, patients can be given clozapine to reduce or even stop their visual hallucinations, for example.” Taking this molecule, however, requires regular blood tests, as it can have effects on blood cells.
Patients with Lewy body disease may also be prescribed acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. “This symptomatic treatment, usually used in Alzheimer’s disease, provided there are no cardiac contraindications, can have a spectacular effect in the case of Lewy body disease.”
It is a progressive disease, which causes increasingly disabling cognitive disorders and motor disorders. If the evolution of this pathology is not necessarily rapid, it can however worsen suddenly.
People with this pathology can live several years. To avoid sudden and irreversible worsening of the disease, it is however necessary to avoid at all costs giving neuroleptics to patients. “Patients with Lewy body disease are more fragile and more sensitive to certain drugs, particularly neuroleptics”confirms Professor Ceccaldi.
Thanks to Pr Mathieu Ceccaldi, professor in the Department of Neurology and Neuropsychology at the CHU de la Timone in Marseille.