A physiotherapy approach to treatment for Lewy Body Dementia - case study

*** This page is currently under construction.

Introduction

Lewy body dementia (LBD) is a progressive disease that involves dementia and parkinsonism. There are two types of LBD; Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s disease with dementia (PDD), where both are categorized based on the onset of cognitive deficits relative to the Parkinson’s diagnosis. Commonly misdiagnosed, PDD specifically involves cognitive deficits which appear more than one year after the onset of parkinsonism. Unfortunately, mortality of LBD is typical 5 to 7 years from onset to death (physiopedia reference). There are extensive clinical presentations and patient challenges of LBD, including fluctuating cognitive deficits, impairments with movement, sleep, behaviour, mood, and memory (National institute on aging reference). The purpose of the following fictional case study, which was created for educational purposes, is to determine the effects of a physiotherapy approach in managing the diagnosis of PDD. With the given physiotherapy approach, effective techniques and interventions will focus on managing the impairments of function and activities stemmed from the disease.

Client characteristics

Mr. Ken Ten is a 58 year old male, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) when he was 55 years old. Approximately 6 months ago, he received a diagnosis of LBD (stage 1 out of 5) (Hudson, Lewis, Christensen, 2021). Ken has experienced problems with maintaining balance and postural control (risk of falls), freezing during gait, slightly stooped posture, tremors in both hands at rest and generalized slowness of movements. Some days, he has also had trouble with multitasking, paying attention to his daily tasks, and remembering to take his medication. He experiences excessive daytime sleepiness, and sometimes reports seeing things that aren’t there (i.e. he occasionally tells his wife that he sees a bear in the backyard when there is no bear). At the time of Ken’s PD diagnosis, he was also diagnosed with REM sleep disorder and restless leg disorder. Approximately 7 years ago, Ken was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, and within the last year, he was diagnosed with depression.

Ken was referred to physiotherapy due to his decreased postural control and has difficulty maintaining his balance while walking. Ken has been playing golf for the past 10 years, and is really passionate about it. Unfortunately, he has noticed that his ability to play golf has decreased. He regularly experiences issues with regards to his balance - he is finding it more difficult to maintain balance during the backswing stance and while initiating the downswing. He is also becoming more easily fatigued while playing golf and requires a 10 minute break in between holes if he walks between them. He hopes that physiotherapy can help him resolve some of his golf related issues, and improve his overall balance.