Monthly Archives: January 2017

What is dementia with Lewy bodies? (Mayo Clinic Minute)

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What is dementia with Lewy bodies? (Mayo Clinic Minute)

I was digging around on the Mayo Clinic website this afternoon and stumbled across the Mayo Clinic Minute video clip titled “What is Lewy body dementia?”  One of my heroes, Brad Boeve, MD, a Dementia with Lewy Bodies expert at Mayo, is interviewed in the one-minute clip.  Watch here:

youtu.be/wM-T4HWbv8Q

One point made in the video is that Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s. DLB can have both symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

Another point made in the short video is that it’s important get the diagnosis right because some medications that don’t work in Alzheimer’s may actually help with DLB.  In this respect, Dr. Boeve is referring to the AChEIs, such as Aricept, Exelon, and Razadyne.

 

Robin

 

“One Man’s Quest to Change the Way We Die” (New York Times)

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This is a wonderful story about an incredible person, BJ Miller, MD.  He is the former executive director of Zen Hospice in San Francisco.  Now, he works at UCSF as a hospice and palliative care specialist.  See today’s New York Times Magazine article here:

www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/magazine/one-mans-quest-to-change-the-way-we-die.html

One Man’s Quest to Change the Way We Die
How B.J. Miller, a doctor and triple amputee, used his own experience to pioneer a new model of palliative care at
a small, quirky hospice in San Francisco.
By Jon Mooallem
January 3, 2017
The New York Times Magazine

The profile of Dr. Miller references the Center for Dying and Living — a combination “skunk works and design lab.”  I couldn’t find a website for this center so perhaps it’s not up and running yet.

Robin