The Lewy Lean

[Guest guest]

Some of my thoughts on the " Lewy Lean "

First I want to say that many with Lewy show Parkinsonism - here's

the definition of the Parkinsonism Gait:

" Parkinson's Gait – a common walk of somebody with Parkinson's

disease. It includes shuffling, head down, shoulders drooped, lack of

arm swing, and leaning backwards or forwards unnaturally. Initiating

walking is difficult and freezing mid-stride is common. "

But with Lewy Body - it's often that the lean is side to side. Why?

First I wonder -- is it drug-induced. (I'd have to confidently say

with my mom, she leaned forward when she was well enough to walk

(shuffle) but the extreme leaning over to the side (w/in her

wheelchair) was due to the anti-psychotics. She didn't have the lean

when the anti-psychotics were removed.)

So I found this:

Pisa syndrome: A condition in which there is sustained involuntary

flexion of the body and head to one side and slight rotation of the

trunk so the person appears to lean like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Pisa syndrome is an adverse effect (a side-effect) of some

medications. It occurs sometimes following the long-term use of

narcoleptics (drugs used to treat schizophrenia) or cholinesterase

inhibitors (a class of drugs used to treat Alzheimer disease).

(In mom's case, I believe it was the anti-psychotics. She didn't have

the Lewy Lean when she was given Exelon (cholinesterase inhibitor).

Here's another article:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/161/2/373

So it bears to question -- does our LO's Lewy Lean a symptom of LBD

or a side effect of medications?