Robin Williams Disease

On August 11, 2014, American actor and comedian, Robin Williams took his own life, he was 63 years old. The world was devastated, saddened and confused by this tragedy. The question on everybody's mind was, why would this extremely gifted comedian and actor who won an Oscar and an extraordinary comedian take his own life when he had so much to live for? What we learned in the weeks following his death was shocking. Robin Williams had been suffering from severe depression for decades. Severe depression, a disorder that if not diagnosed early can be crippling and have tragic results. Another factor that contributed to Williams taking his own life was he had been recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. However, it was learned that it
However, after his death an autopsy was performed. It was during this autopsy that the Doctors confirmed that Williams was suffering from Lewy Body Dementia or LBD (a disease that is greatly under-diagnosed) and not Parkinson's disease. However, these diseases do mimic each other because they both are types of dementia. Both diseases cause movement disorders, memory loss, depression and affect the central nervous system. LBD is a debilitating neurological disease in which the person suffers from, hallucinations, poor body function, memory loss, severe depression, loss of bodily functions and severe sleeping disorders. LBD is caused by protein deposits in the brain. Dementia affects 35 million people around the word, which is roughly the same population as Canada. Symptoms can greatly vary, yet the brain disease greatly impacts the communication and language portions of the brain. It is also proven that 40% of dementia suffers severe depression. Doctors diagnose dementia based on a careful medical history of the patient which usually affects the elderly and is similar to Alzheimer's. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the USA and major depressive disorder represents 14 million of all American adults suffering from at least one episode per year This accounts for over 6% of adults in the USA. LBD usually takes the lives of its victims anywhere from 5 to 8 years from original diagnosis. The symptoms move swiftly and brutally and must have been unbearable for Robin Williams. Robin Williams LBD and severe depression seem to have been the key factors that lead him to take his own life. "DLB is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease, like in Robin's case," says Dr. Alex Pantelyat, Director of Atypical Parkinsonism Center and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins. "Sometimes as Alzheimer's disease or another