title: Lewy body dementias.
abstract: The broad importance of dementia is undisputed, with Alzheimer's disease justifiably getting the most attention. However, dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia, now called Lewy body dementias, are the second most common type of degenerative dementia in patients older than 65 years. Despite this, Lewy body dementias receive little attention and patients are often misdiagnosed, leading to less than ideal management. Over the past 10 years, considerable effort has gone into improving diagnostic accuracy by refining diagnostic criteria and using imaging and other biomarkers. Dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia share the same pathophysiology, and effective treatments will depend not only on successful treatment of symptoms but also on targeting the pathological mechanisms of disease, ideally before symptoms and clinical signs develop. We summarise the most pertinent progress from the past 10 years, outlining some of the challenges for the future, which will require refinement of diagnosis and clarification of the pathogenesis, leading to disease-modifying treatments.
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK; North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Epping, UK. Electronic address: z.walker@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Possin
authors.affiliation: Division of Behavioral Neurology, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA; Division of Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA; Center for Sleep Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Bradley F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Boeve
authors.affiliation: Centre for Age-Related Diseases, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway; Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Alzheimer's Disease Research Centre, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aarsland
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D020961:Lewy Body Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D013494:Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers