As a psychiatrist at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Antonio Bullon treats patients with dementia and other neuropsychiatric illnesses. Focused on geriatric care since 2012, Dr. Antonio Bullon draws on an in-depth knowledge of Lewy body dementia.

1. Antonio Bullon

2.  As a psychiatrist at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Dr. Antonio Bullon treats patients with dementia and other neuropsychiatric
illnesses. Focused on geriatric care since 2012, Dr. Antonio Bullon draws on
an in-depth knowledge of Lewy body dementia.
Lewy body dementia, or LBD, is the second most prevalent type of
progressive dementia today. It affects more than 20 percent of dementia
patients across the world and results from the growth of small abnormal
structures known as Lewy bodies. These structures form inside brain cells
and interrupt the normal chemistry of the brain.
Lewy body dementia develops either as Parkinson's disease dementia or
dementia with Lewy bodies. The former may present first with movement
symptoms, while the latter causes memory symptoms that mimic those of
Alzheimer's disease. As the disease progresses, however, both disorders
cause worsening cognitive and motor problems.

3.  The patient with Lewy body dementia will experience difficulties with
executive function such as planning and organization. Also prone to sudden
changes in awareness, the patient may transition abruptly from an alert state
to one of drowsiness or confusion, and may remain in that state for seconds
to hours.
These fluctuations in alertness stand out as one of the key symptoms of
Lewy body dementia, as do visual hallucinations or delusions. The person
may see colors, shapes, or even people and animals that are not present.
The person may also have difficulty with visual perception and may fall
frequently, due to a lost ability to perceive distance correctly.
Finally, Lewy body dementia stands out from other forms of dementia due to
the presence of motor symptoms. These include muscle rigidity, lack of facial
expression, and changes in gait. These changes occur along with cognitive
decline, including difficulty with the activities of daily living, but do not occur
alongside the short-term memory loss associated with other types of
dementia.