A simple personality test could help doctors detect dementia with Lewy bodies, a form of dementia often confused with Alzheimer's disease, sooner, according to a study published in the May 29, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Dementia with Lewy bodies is the second most common neurodegenerative cause of dementia. It shares characteristics with both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Getting the correct diagnosis is especially important because some medications used to treat the mental health symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can be potentially dangerous for people with dementia with Lewy bodies.
The study found that even before diagnosis, people with dementia with Lewy bodies displayed passive personality changes, such as diminished emotional response, disinterest in hobbies, repetitive behaviors, and growing apathy, or lack of interest, more often than those with Alzheimer's.
The study involved 290 people who were part of a larger study and were tested every year for an average of about five years; by the end of the study 128 of the participants had confirmed cases of dementia with Lewy bodies, 128 had Alzheimer's and 34 had no form of dementia. Researchers followed the participants through death, including autopsy results. During annual interviews, participants or their family members were asked about changes in personality, interests and drives.
People with dementia with Lewy bodies were two times more likely to have passive personality traits at the time of the first evaluation than people with Alzheimer's disease. By the time of death, up to 75 percent of those with dementia with Lewy bodies had passive personality changes compared to 45 percent of those with Alzheimer's disease.