History
Frederic Lewy (1885–1950) was first to discover the abnormal protein deposits ("Lewy body inclusions") in the early 1900s. Dementia with Lewy bodies only started to be diagnosed in the mid-1990s after the discovery of alpha-synuclein staining first highlighted Lewy bodies in the cortex of post mortem brains of a subset of dementia patients. Because it was only recently discovered, DLB is not a recognized diagnosis in DSM-IV, which was published in 1994. It is, however, briefly mentioned in the DSM-IV-TR (published in 2000) under "Dementia Due to Other General Medical Conditions". In 1996, a consortium of scientists initially proposed and later revised diagnostic guidelines.
Attention was drawn to DLB following the 2008 death of actress Estelle Getty, who had previously been diagnosed with both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases before her true condition was discovered. Fellow Golden Girls cast members noted, years earlier, Getty had severe trouble remembering her lines during the filming of the show. Another victim of DLB was William Stiles Bennet II, 1934-2009, a grandson and a son of US Congressmen who represented the area that includes Orange County, NY. Known as "Billo" to his friends, the younger Bennet was a successful businessman, and was one of the original developers of the Yoplait yogurt line.
Read more about this topic: Dementia With Lewy Bodies
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“No one is ahead of his time, it is only that the particular variety of creating his time is the one that his contemporaries who are also creating their own time refuse to accept.... For a very long time everybody refuses and then almost without a pause almost everybody accepts. In the history of the refused in the arts and literature the rapidity of the change is always startling.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)