Think Parent Has Lewy Body Dementia? Some Signs And When To Put Them In Senior Care

Health & Medical Blog

If your parent is starting to hallucinate and their memory is slowly getting worse, they may have Lewy body dementia. If they are having these symptoms, the first thing you should do is to take your parent to a neurologist for treatment. Until you can get that appointment, below are some signs that your parent has this and when it is time to put them in senior care.

Signs of Lewy Body Dementia

With Lewy body dementia, there are protein deposits, known as Lewy bodies, on the nerve cells in the regions of the brain that control memory, movement, and thinking.

Many people with dementia hallucinate, but with most forms this happens during the end stages. With Lewy body dementia, however, hallucinations can start early in the disease. Besides having visual hallucinations, your parent may also have auditory hallucinates, such as hearing things that are not there. They may have touch or smell hallucinations.

Your parent will also have problems with movement, such as tremors, shuffling when walking, and rigid muscles, much like the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Your parent will have noticeable cognitive problems. For example, they may become easily confused, have ongoing memory loss, and problems paying attention while conversing. Having problems with sleep is another classic symptom of this type of dementia. This is because many people with Lewy body dementia have very vivid dreams that may result in sleep walking.

Time for Senior Care

In the beginning, the symptoms are not as noticeable and your parent will do fine on their own. Once they get to the point where they are hallucinating and displaying severe memory loss someone should be with your parent at all times. They should also not drive a car as they will easily become lost and may even drive miles for their home.

You can hire a nurse to come to your parent's home daily if you have the time to spend the night with your parent. If not, you should put your parent in a senior care facility that offers memory care. Memory care means they have staff that have the knowledge and experience working with patients that have dementia and other diseases.

In the beginning, your parent will likely resist going to a senior care facility but you should be firm. This is because they could easily harm their selves which would result in severe injury or even death if left alone.

Visit a few facilities in your area, like Paramount Parks At Eagle, and do your research on them to ensure your parent will feel comfortable there.

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6 October 2017

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