Lewy body disease is a serious brain condition that affects how people think, move, and remember things. It is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease.
Although many people haven’t heard of it, Lewy body disease plays a big role in two major illnesses: Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
The disease gets its name from tiny clumps of protein called Lewy bodies that build up in the brain. These clumps are made from a protein called alpha-synuclein, which has folded in the wrong way. When too many of these clumps gather, they interfere with how the brain works.
This can lead to problems with thinking, memory, or movement. Depending on which symptoms show up first, doctors may diagnose someone with Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia. But both are caused by the same underlying problem: Lewy bodies in the brain.
Until recently, the only way to know for sure if someone had Lewy body disease was by looking at their brain after death. This made it very hard to diagnose and treat the illness early. But now, scientists from Lund University in Sweden have made a big breakthrough.
They have developed a test that can detect Lewy body disease before symptoms even begin. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Medicine.
The test works by checking the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, known as cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid can carry signs of diseases happening inside the brain. The Swedish team tested more than 1,100 people who didn’t show any memory or movement problems at the time.
To their surprise, about 10% of them already had signs of Lewy bodies in their brain fluid. This means the disease had started quietly, even though the people felt fine.
Over time, those with Lewy bodies in their brain fluid began to show problems with memory and thinking. Some of them were later diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia. This suggests that the test can find the disease years before any symptoms appear.
Another interesting part of the study was the link between Lewy body disease and the sense of smell. Many people with early signs of the disease had trouble smelling things properly, even though they had no other symptoms.
Because of this, the scientists think a simple smell test might be a helpful early warning sign. They suggest that people over the age of 60 could take a smell test. If they have problems with it, they could then take the spinal fluid test to look for Lewy body disease.
This new discovery gives scientists hope. Right now, researchers around the world are working on drugs that could slow down or stop Lewy body disease. But for these drugs to work best, they need to be given early—before too much damage is done to the brain. This new test could make that possible by catching the disease early.
The researchers also found that some people with Lewy body disease also had two other brain proteins that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease. These people got worse more quickly. Knowing this might help doctors guess how fast a patient’s condition will progress.
The team in Sweden is hopeful that, just like there is now a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease, one day there might be a simple blood test for Lewy body disease too. This would make early diagnosis even easier. It’s harder to do because the disease proteins are harder to find in the blood, but scientists believe it is possible.
As science moves forward, studies like this offer hope to millions of people. Catching brain diseases early may help save memories, independence, and quality of life.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about Early heart rhythm problem linked to higher dementia risk and findings of Green leafy vegetables may help reduce Alzheimer’s risk.
For more about dementia, please read studies about Research shows an important cause of frontotemporal dementia and findings of New way to detect Lewy body disease early, a leading cause of dementia.
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