The is leading a national effort to develop new ways to diagnose and treat a poorly known disease that affects around 1.4 million Americans.
is related to Parkinson鈥檚 Disease and but has its own set of symptoms and disease progression.
The awarded the Cleveland Clinic $6 million to set-up the first consortium to study the disease.
Dr. James Leverenz, director of Cleveland Clinic , heads the effort.
He says Lewy Body Dementia falls between those better known conditions.
鈥淵ou can see memory loss like you see with 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚. You can see some of the motor symptoms of Parkinson鈥檚; the slowing of movement, the stooped posture, sometimes a tremor. You also tend to see something you see in later stage Parkinson鈥檚, visual hallucinations and an unusual sleep disorder where people act their dreams out at night.鈥�
He says the new nine member consortium will develop diagnostic tools for Lewy Body Dementia and coordinate clinical trials.
Leverenz says an autopsy of showed that the actor/comedian suffered from the early stages of Lewy Body Dementia.
