Serious question

[Guest guest]

I was told that people with LBD have a shorter life spand than those with

AD. Is this true. I also heard that they also end up not being able to eat,

they be come unable to swallow food and choke on it. Is any of this true.

June M.

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

[Guest guest]

Hi, June,

Since each LBD patient is so different, it is hard to really say if their

life spans are shorter than AD patients. In general, the average life span for

an LBD patient is 5 to 7 years from diagnosis, if I remember correctly. I

remember reading that LBD is regarded as being more aggressive than AD. Again,

each patient is so different. I know people get so tired of hearing that

because it is so hard to know where things are going. My dad did get to where

he was unable to swallow. Many LBD patients never experience that so it is

not a given that it will occur. It is not uncommon for LBD patients to have

difficulty swallowing, but many of them are able to eat pureed foods or

thickened foods. I wish I could be more definitive with my answer, but I hope

this

helps some.

Hugs,

Piper

Caregiver for Dad, , misdiagnosed with Alz. in 1998, diagnosed with

LBD in 2000, passed away from LBD in March 2006.

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

[Guest guest]

Thanks Sharon, it is a very confusing sickness. June M:

hi june

when daddy was diagnosed it the prognosis was 1-7 years average being 2

years, the key words were diagnosis, our lbders have unrecognizable symtoms for

years, so by the time they were diagnose manyyears could have gone by, daddy

probably had lbd from the late 1980' or early 90's started with some

unexplained falls, dropping of things, etc, it wasnt until the cogntios was

noticed

by me that there was a problem, daddy lived by himslef in florida and i lived

in tenn and my mom lived in arizona so it wasnt obvoius what was going on.

now with some of the treatments that are available that werent 3-5 years ago,

things are slowly improving for our lbders, when i printed things out for

daddy to read, i used the wonderful world of computer editing feature and cut

out all the parts that said anything about prognosis or death so as not to

depress dad more and have him lose his will to live.. good luck and hugs,

sharon

a-m pensacola, florida

Thankss

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)