Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Feb;19(2):157-169.
doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30153-X. Epub 2019 Sep 10.

New evidence on the management of Lewy body dementia

John-Paul Taylor  1 , Ian G McKeith  2 , David J Burn  2 , Brad F Boeve  3 , Daniel Weintraub  4 , Claire Bamford  5 , Louise M Allan  6 , Alan J Thomas  2 , John T O'Brien  7
Affiliations
Review

New evidence on the management of Lewy body dementia

John-Paul Taylor et al. Lancet Neurol. 2020 Feb.

Abstract

Dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia, jointly known as Lewy body dementia, are common neurodegenerative conditions. Patients with Lewy body dementia present with a wide range of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, sleep, motor, and autonomic symptoms. Presentation varies between patients and can vary over time within an individual. Treatments can address one symptom but worsen another, which makes disease management difficult. Symptoms are often managed in isolation and by different specialists, which makes high-quality care difficult to accomplish. Clinical trials and meta-analyses now provide an evidence base for the treatment of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and motor symptoms in patients with Lewy body dementia. Furthermore, consensus opinion from experts supports the application of treatments for related conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, for the management of common symptoms (eg, autonomic dysfunction) in patients with Lewy body dementia. However, evidence gaps remain and future clinical trials need to focus on the treatment of symptoms specific to patients with Lewy body dementia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests

J-PT, IGM, DJB, CB, LMA, AJT, and JTO’B report grants from the UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) during the conduct of this study. J-PT reports non-financial support from Axovant and personal fees from GE Healthcare, outside the submitted work. IGM reports personal fees from Axovant, Eisai, GE Healthcare, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, and Heptares, outside the submitted work. BFB reports personal fees for scientific advisory board membership from the Tau Consortium, grants from GE Healthcare, National Institutes of Health, Mangurian Foundation, and Axovant, outside the submitted work. DW reports personal fees from Acadia, outside the submitted work. JTO’B reports personal fees from TauRx, Axon, GE Healthcare, and Eisai, outside the submitted work.

Figures

Figure:
Figure:
Current challenges and future opportunities for improving care and outcomes of patients with Lewy body dementia
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Vann Jones SA, O’Brien JT. The prevalence and incidence of dementia with Lewy bodies: a systematic review of population and clinical studies. Psychol Med 2014; 44: 673–83. - PubMed
    1. Kane JPM, Surendranathan A, Bentley A, et al. Clinical prevalence of Lewy body dementia. Alzheimers Res Ther 2018; 10: 19. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McKeith IG, Boeve BF, Dickson DW, et al. Diagnosis and management of dementia with Lewy bodies: fourth consensus report of the dementia with Lewy bodies Consortium. Neurology 2017; 89: 88–100. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hely MA, Reid WG, Adena MA, Halliday GM, Morris JG. The Sydney multicenter study of Parkinson’s disease: the inevitability of dementia at 20 years. Mov Disord 2008; 23: 837–44. - PubMed
    1. Emre M, Aarsland D, Brown R, et al. Clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease. Mov Dis 2007; 22: 1689–707. - PubMed

Publication types