Lewy body dementia when compared to Alzheimer's dementia

Which of the following is more commonly seen in patients with Lewy body dementia when compared to Alzheimer's dementia?

• A) Hallucinations
• B) Lip smacking
• C) Tremor
• D) Emotional lability
• E) Repetitive behavior

The answer is A.

Although difficult to know for sure, Lewy body dementia may be the second most common dementia after Alzheimer's disease.

Lewy bodies are hallmark lesions of degenerating neurons in Parkinson's disease "deposits of the protein alpha-synuclein inside nerve cells in the brain"  and occur in dementia with or without features of Parkinson's disease. In Lewy body dementia, Lewy bodies may predominate markedly or be intermixed with classic pathologic changes of Alzheimer's disease. Symptoms, signs, and course of Lewy body dementia resemble those of Alzheimer's disease, except hallucinations (mainly visual) are more common and patients appear to have an exquisite sensitivity to antipsychotic-induced extrapyramidal adverse effects.