Vaccine for Deadly Respiratory Virus Shows Promise in Early Trial

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Another research team is reporting progress toward developing a vaccine to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common lung infection that can cause deadly complications in infants and the elderly.

Scientists think a proven vaccine could still be years away. But the new findings add to a growing list of recent advances toward routine immunizations against the disease.

“It’s impressive,” said vaccine researcher Mark Peeples, a professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University College of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. “I’m not sure it’s going to be the best possible vaccine, but it shows a good response.”

RSV causes wintertime epidemics of respiratory illness in U.S. children. According to Peeples, virtually everyone is infected by the age of 2 and is re-infected repeatedly throughout life.

In 2 percent to 5 percent of cases, however, infected infants develop breathing problems that require hospitalization, he said. “The infection gets down into the small airways and causes swelling, which shuts off the airways,” he explained.

Oxygen is a common treatment for kids, but it’s not available everywhere. An estimated 200,000 deaths occur worldwide from the disease each year, and it is the leading cause of hospitalization for children under the age of 1 in the United States, according to background information in the study.

Researchers have been trying to develop a vaccine for decades. An early version in the 1950s actually made the disease worse, possibly because it triggered harmful inflammation, Peeples said.

In the new study, the first of three phases of research required before medications can be approved in the United States, scientists tested an experimental nose-drop vaccine in 15 adults, 15 children who’d been infected by the virus and 30 infants and children who had not. Some of the kids got a placebo.

The vaccine was developed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Laboratory of Infectious Diseases. It’s a genetically engineered form of the virus that’s designed to prime the immune system but not so much that it causes illness.

The findings show that the weakened virus “still elicited a very strong immune response in infants and young children. We saw this strong immune response after only a single dose of vaccine,” said study author Dr. Ruth Karron, director of the Center for Immunization Research at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore.

“Though this is quite a small study,” she added, “these findings are exciting and change the way in which we think about developing live RSV vaccines for children.”

The results were published in the Nov. 4 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

Phase 1 studies like this are designed to test safety, determine an effective dosage and pinpoint side effects. The kids who got the vaccine developed more runny noses, but it’s not clear if the vaccine was the cause, Karron said. She added that it’s too early to discuss the potential cost of the vaccine.

Karron said similar vaccines are now being tested in clinical trials or will be tested soon. “We hope that a live vaccine for RSV will be available sometime within the next decade,” she added.

Earlier this year, researchers in Britain reported success in protecting calves from an illness similar to RSV. And a separate team in England tested that experimental vaccine in healthy adults and reported their immune systems responded to it. Meanwhile, Novavax Co. reported in August that an experimental vaccine reduced RSV cases in seniors by as much as 60 percent.

Another avenue of research has focused on RSV vaccines for pregnant women, who might be able to pass on protection to their unborn children, Karron said. But the protection might not last long in early life, she noted.

More information

For more about respiratory syncytial virus, see the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Children of Stressed Parents May Be Prone to Obesity

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Hispanic children are more likely to be obese if their parents have high levels of stress, a new study suggests.

Researchers compared obesity rates of Hispanic children in Chicago, Miami, New York City and San Diego with their parents’ levels of stress at home and at work.

The children’s obesity rates rose according to the amount of stress their parents faced — from 20 percent among kids whose parents had no stress to 34 percent among those whose parents had three or more stress factors. Stress factors included difficulties at work or in a relationship, among others.

After adjusting for other factors such as age, gender, place of birth and neighborhood, the researchers concluded that parents with three or more chronic sources of stress were twice as likely to have obese children than those with no stress.

The findings are to be presented Friday at the Obesity Society’s annual meeting in Los Angeles. Research presented at meetings is typically considered preliminary because it’s not subject to the same level of scrutiny as studies published in journals.

“Obesity and chronic stress were both prevalent among this Latino population, with more than one-quarter (28 percent) of children ages 8 to 16 with obesity, and nearly one-third (29 percent) of their parents reporting high levels of stress,” study leader Carmen Isasi said in a society news release. Isasi is an associate professor of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Isasi said the study, one of the first to identify parental stress as a risk factor for child obesity among Hispanics, adds to the understanding of family influences on youngsters’ weight.

“This research should encourage clinicians and health care practitioners to consider high stress levels as a warning sign for developing obesity not only in the adult patient, but also in the patient’s entire family,” Dr. Margarita Teran-Garcia, At-Large Mexico Council member for the Obesity Society, said in the news release.

The findings suggest “that special attention should be paid to adult patients who report experiencing high stress levels in this population, and providers are encouraged to consider behavioral counseling as one measure for obesity prevention and treatments,” Teran-Garcia added.

Further research is needed to determine how parental stress increases a child’s risk of obesity, to identify preventive measures, and to examine this link in other racial/ethnic groups, the researchers said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more about stress.

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Weight-Loss Surgery May Trim Health Care Costs

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Weight-loss surgery may save health care dollars down the road, a new study suggests.

Researchers report that there was a sharp drop in medical spending by obese patients after they had the so-called “bariatric” procedure.

“The main reduction in costs were related to fewer hospital admissions and clinic visits, and a reduction in the use of prescription drugs for diabetes, [high blood pressure] and heart disease,” said study co-author Dr. John Morton, chief of bariatric and minimally invasive surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, in Palo Alto, Calif.

“Costs were higher across the board for [obese] patients who did not have bariatric surgery, showing there is an even higher cost to not treating obesity,” added Morton, who is also president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

In the study, the researchers compared 823 obese people who had a type of weight-loss surgery called laparoscopic gastric bypass with 786 obese people who did not have weight-loss surgery.

In each of the four years after weight-loss surgery, the patients’ health care costs fell by 12 percent, 28 percent, 37 percent and 35 percent, respectively, the findings showed.

There were even larger drops in health care costs for those who had type 2 diabetes: 23 percent, 49 percent, 61 percent and 69 percent, respectively.

Health care costs for those who had weight-loss surgery were nearly $7,600 less per patient over four years than for those who did not have the surgery, a savings of nearly 40 percent, according to the study authors.

And, the authors added, among patients with diabetes, health care costs for those who had weight-loss surgery were about $22,600 less per patient over four years than for those who did not have the surgery, a savings of 78 percent.

In addition, the researchers found that about 70 percent of patients with diabetes also saw a remission of their disease after surgery.

The average cost of the weight-loss surgery in the study was just over $25,200, according to the report.

The findings are to be presented Wednesday at Obesity Week, a meeting in Los Angeles hosted by the ASMBS and The Obesity Society. Study findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

“The findings show treating obesity has important health benefits that translate into real cost savings,” Dr. Robin Blackstone, chief of bariatric and metabolic surgery at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix, said in an Obesity Week news release.

“Bariatric surgery saves lives and money, and is one of the best investments patients and their insurers can make,” added Blackstone, who was not involved in the study.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about weight-loss surgery.

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Count Bites, Subtract the Pounds

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Counting your bites of food could help you lose weight, a small study suggests.

Researchers asked 61 volunteers to tally the number of bites they took each day and pledge to take 20 percent to 30 percent fewer bites over the next four weeks. They also tracked their intake of liquids other than water.

The 41 participants who kept their vow lost about four pounds during that month — about what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for healthy weight loss.

The Brigham Young University study was published recently in the journal Advances in Obesity, Weight Management & Control.

“This study confirms what we already knew: Consuming less food makes a difference,” lead author Josh West, an assistant professor of health science, said in a university news release. “We’re not advocating people starve themselves, what we’re talking about is people eating less than they’re currently eating.”

Further research is needed to determine if this approach leads to long-term weight loss, said study co-author Ben Crookston, an assistant professor of health science.

“We felt pretty good about how much weight they lost given the relatively short span of the study,” he said in the news release. “Now we need to follow up to see if they keep it off, or if they lose more weight.”

The researchers said counting bites could offer an effective, affordable method of weight loss for the 70 percent of Americans who are overweight.

“We’re consuming considerably more calories than we did a generation ago or two generations ago; at the same time we’re much less active,” Crookston said. “Even a 20 percent reduction in bites makes a difference.”

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases explains how to choose a safe and effective weight-loss program.

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Weight-Loss Surgery Often Brings Less Painful Joints: Study

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Aching knee and hip joints may hurt less after successful weight-loss surgery, a new study suggests.

“In particular, walking is easier, which impacts patients’ ability to adopt a more physically active lifestyle,” lead researcher Wendy King said in a news release from the ObesityWeek meeting.

Weight-loss surgery isn’t a “magic bullet” for joint pain for every patient, however.

“Some patients continue to have significant pain and disability” even after the operation, said King, who is an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health.

King’s team was to present the findings Wednesday at the ObesityWeek meeting in Los Angeles, which is hosted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and The Obesity Society.

In the study, the researchers tracked outcomes for more than 2,200 obese people, average age 47. All had undergone weight-loss (bariatric) surgery at one of 10 hospitals across the United States.

In the three years after surgery, 57 percent of patients who’d had significant mobility limitations before the procedure no longer had them, and about 70 percent of those who’d had severe knee and hip pain or disability had improvements in joint pain and function, the researchers found.

However, one in six patients still required narcotic pain medication, 26 percent still had problems moving around and there were wide variations in several measures of pain, disability and physical function, the researchers said.

Overall, however, “our study found that clinically meaningful improvements in bodily pain, specific joint pain, and both perceived and objectively measured physical function, are common following bariatric surgery,” King said.

Certain types of patients — younger, more affluent males in particular — tended to do better after surgery.

Also, people who went into the surgery with a relatively lower weight did better than the very obese, King’s team found.

“Obesity can affect the knees and hips and cause bodily pain because of all the added stress it puts on the joints. As a result, musculoskeletal problems are quite common among bariatric patients,” Dr. John Morton, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, said in the news release. Morton is also chief of bariatric and minimally invasive surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif.

“Bariatric surgery can help reduce or reverse that pain and improve function, but the longer one lives with obesity, the less improvement one may have. In certain cases, some damage to the joints may be irreversible,” added Morton, who was not involved in the study.

Findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about weight-loss surgery.

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The One Foam Rolling Move You Need to Do

Photo: Getty Images

Real talk: It’s hard to squeeze in workouts, let alone dedicate time to stretch or foam roll. But if you’re doing a 10-second quad stretch and then calling it a day, you’re probably not doing enough to save your legs. So what’s the most efficient way to improve mobility, speed recovery and ease soreness, stat? Grab a dense foam roller (like the Trigger Point Performance Roller), and put three minutes on the clock.

Read on for the scoop on the best foam rolling move you’re not doing, according to Brynn Fessette DPT, FAFS, physical therapist at Finish Line Physical Therapy in New York City.

RELATED: No Pain, No Gain? 5 Myths About Muscle Soreness

Reasons to Roll Out

After a strenuous workout, your muscle tissues are kind of like ropes with knots in them, says Fessette. Those places of uncomfortable tightness (called adhesions) can restrict your range of motion, which might compromise your form if you return to your workouts without addressing them. “You need to break up those knots to really lengthen the tissue — and that’s where the foam roller is key,” Fessette says. Making time for self-myofascial release (aka self-massage) can increase blood circulation so your muscles have healthy fascia, or connective tissue.

RELATED: Are You Foam Rolling All Wrong?

But where to start — especially for runners? “A lot of people foam roll their quads and their IT band, but they neglect the lateral quad,” says Fessette. “It usually hurts the most because it’s the tightest.” She notes that you want to give extra TLC to spots that feel tense. And it’s no race — going slow will allow you get deeper into the tissue. Plus, you can still be done in under three minutes. Case in point, Fessette’s most efficient quad self-massage detailed below. Your face might grimace, but your muscles will thank you later!

The Best Foam Rolling Moves to Relieve Your Quads

The Front Quad Release 

1. Lie facedown on the ground with the foam roller placed perpendicular to your legs, with your upper left thigh resting on the roller and your right leg bent at the hip and knee, resting lightly on the ground. Rest some of your bodyweight on your forearms and keep your core engaged. Start by rolling two inches to the front of the mat and two inches back.
2. Working out those adhesions by carefully moving your knee and hip joints through a range of motion will help the cause. While holding the roller still, slowly move your left leg side to side, like your leg is a car’s windshield wiper. Here, focus on “squishing” out any tightness rather than merely letting your body “clunk” over the tight spots, says Fessette. Think about flattening your muscle out to really get deep into your tissue. Repeat the side-to-side motion twice.
3. Next, slowly bring your left heel towards your glute, then lower it to the ground. Repeat twice.
4. Now walk your forearms forward and roll yourself two inches forward to a different part of your quad, then repeat steps 2 and 3. You should aim to perform this three-step sequence (roll, windshield wipers and glute kicks) on three places on your quad, or wherever you specifically feel tightness. When you reach the top of your quad, perform the release below to target your lateral quad.

The Lateral Quad Release

1. After rolling the front of your quad, your upper thigh should be resting on the foam roller. Now, turn your body 45 degrees to the right so your bodyweight is resting on the outer edge of your quad (not the IT band). Bring your right forearm off the ground and place your palm on the ground to help you balance in this position. Start by rolling two inches to the back of your mat, and two inches forward.
2. Keep the foam roller still and slowly move your left leg side to side, again, as if your leg is a car windshield wiper. Repeat twice.
3. Now slowly bring your left heel towards your glute, and lower it back to the ground. Repeat twice.
4. Next, perform the three-step sequence (roll, windshield wipers and glute kicks) on two other parts of your lateral quad, or wherever you feel tightness.
5. When you finish massaging the left leg, perform steps 1 through 8 with the right leg.

Fessette recommends using the foam roller after every strenuous workout, or even every day if you’re experiencing soreness. Here are more ways to target the rest of your body and potentially speed up recovery:

5 Foam Rolling Moves You Aren’t Doing (But Should)

How to Foam Roll: Lower-Body Release

How to Foam Roll: Upper Body Release

All GIFs courtesy of DailyBurn.

Life by DailyBurn is dedicated to helping you live a healthier, happier and more active lifestyle. Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain strength or de-stress, a better you is well within reach. Get more health and fitness tips at Life by DailyBurn.

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Curly-Haired Emojis Have Arrived! Here’s How to Get Them

Photo: Emojis courtesy of Dove Hair

Although your phone’s emoji keyboard now allows for a range of skin colors, until today, there was only one hair style—sleek and straight. Finally, there’s an emoji for you, curly girls.

Leave it to Dove, the brand behind all those tear-jerking ad campaigns, to literally change the way women talk about their hair. As part of their “Love Your Curls” campaign, the “real beauty” company launched a downloadable keyboard that includes 27 unique emojis, ranging from blonde ringlets to dark brown kinks and everything in between.

Dove Hair decided to create the new emojis, which also represent various ages and skin colors, after their research found that a whopping 72% of curly-haired women and girls want to use an emoji that looks like them when expressing their emotions via text.

RELATED: 5 Women Talk Poignantly About Their Hair

The goal of the initiative is to help women and girls embrace and love their natural texture by ensuring they see accurate reflections of their hair in their everyday lives—and on their keyboards.

Starting today, you can download the Dove Love Your Curl Emoji Keyboard in iTunes or Google Play for free, which can be used in all text and messenger apps on any device.

Also fun: To celebrate the launch, Dove Hair is partnering with Twitter, so whenever you hashtag a #LoveYourCurls moment, a curly-haired emoji will automatically appear in the tweet.

RELATED: Watch What Happens When Women Choose Between Doors Marked ‘Average’ and ‘Beautiful’

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Better Sex Life May Be a Weight-Loss Surgery Bonus

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Following weight-loss surgery, activity in the bedroom may pick up as the pounds fall away, a new study finds.

The research suggests the effect may be long-term, and similar for both men and women.

“Improvements in sex life are an additional benefit that goes beyond weight loss,” said Dr. John Morton, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). He was not involved in the new study.

The findings were to be presented Wednesday in Los Angeles at Obesity Week, an annual meeting hosted by ASMBS and The Obesity Society.

The study was led by Dr. Kristine Steffen, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at North Dakota State University in Fargo. Her team tracked outcomes for more than 2,000 people — nearly 80 percent women — who were surveyed about their sex lives for five years after they underwent weight-loss (bariatric) surgery.

One year after the procedure, patients typically reported increased sexual desire and activity, greater satisfaction with sexual functioning, and fewer health-related limitations in their sexual activity, the study authors said.

The benefit appeared to continue long-term. Five years after the surgery, all measures of sexual functioning remained much improved compared to before surgery, Steffen’s team reported. At the five-year point, about 52 percent of women and 58 percent of men remained moderately-to-very satisfied with their sexual function — compared with about 31 percent and 28 percent, respectively, before surgery.

Similarly, about 39 percent of women and 55 percent of men said they were more sexually active after the surgery than they had been before, the findings showed.

Depression was often a key factor, the study authors noted, with both men and women typically having improved sex lives after surgery if they had also achieved improvements in depression symptoms.

“Limited research has suggested that bariatric surgery is associated with short-term improvements in sexual function,” Steffen said in a meeting news release. “This study shows these improvements are long-lasting.”

Experts note that findings presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about weight-loss surgery.

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Sleep Patterns May Affect a Woman’s Diabetes Risk

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Women who experience a big increase in hours of sleep each night may face an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

The study found that women who added more than two hours of shuteye a night showed a 15 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The researchers also suggested that women who regularly slept six hours or less a night might have higher odds of developing type 2 diabetes. But after adjusting the data for other factors such as obesity, this link was not considered statistically significant, the researchers said.

Women who were chronically short on sleep who then tried to catch up were the ones who fared the worst in the study. In fact, the researchers found that short sleepers who added two hours of sleep a night actually increased their odds of diabetes by 21 percent.

“Increasing sleep duration after previous years of short sleep may not be a panacea,” said study author Elizabeth Cespedes, a research postdoctoral fellow at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in California.

It’s important to note, however, that this research doesn’t confirm a cause-and-effect connection between type 2 diabetes and the amount of sleep women get a night. Although the study found an association between these factors, it isn’t clear whether changes in sleep patterns contribute to diabetes or vice versa, the researchers said.

Cespedes said previous research has shown that people who sleep too little — or too much — and eat poorly and exercise less are more likely to develop obesity and type 2 diabetes. But there’s been little research into the role of long-term changes in sleep patterns. What happens when people begin to sleep more or less over time, the researchers wondered.

To see if they could answer that question, the researchers tracked almost 60,000 American women. The women were nurses between the ages of 55 and 83. The researchers looked for changes in sleep patterns from 1986 to 2000. Then they looked for any connections between sleep changes and cases of type 2 diabetes diagnosed between 2000 and 2012. Just over 3,500 women were diagnosed with diabetes in that time period.

After the researchers adjusted their statistics to account for changes in factors such as obesity, they found the only statistically significant relationship was in those who added 2 or more hours of sleep each night. Women whose sleep time grew by 2 or more hours had 15 percent greater odds of developing type 2 diabetes, the study concluded.

It’s possible that simply having diabetes disrupts sleep, though Cespedes said that’s probably not a major factor for this group of women because there wasn’t a lot of undiagnosed diabetes in this group.

“Some scientists argue that long sleep is a symptom of underlying sleep disorders, depression or ill health,” Cespedes said, “and that it is these factors, and not long sleep, that increase the risk of diabetes.” But, the researchers tried to account for those factors and still saw “a relationship between large increases in sleep duration and increased risk of diabetes,” she said.

For now, it’s not clear whether changing sleep patterns — sleeping more or less — could prevent diabetes, she said. However, she added, several studies in children and adults are seeking to answer this question.

What about men? Some research has suggested that extremes in sleep affect men and women differently, Cespedes said. But research similar to this study included men and found similar results, she said.

Jane Ferrie, a senior research fellow at the University of Bristol in England, who’s worked on similar research, praised the study and said it’s “the best evidence we have to date” on this topic. She speculated that short sleep may disrupt the way the body processes blood sugar. It’s also possible that people who sleep longer may have undiagnosed sleep apnea. (The study only included sleep apnea diagnosed by a doctor.)

For now, Ferrie said, “women whose sleep duration changes by two or more hours per night should mention this to their doctor.”

The study appeared Nov. 2 in the journal Diabetologia.

More information

For more about diabetes and sleep, try the Joslin Diabetes Center.

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Here’s What to Know About Lewy Body Dementia

Photo: Getty Images

Robin Williams’ widow, Susan Williams, recently told People magazine that her late husband suffered from Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disease with a constellation of symptoms. In the last year of his life, Williams experienced worsening anxiety attacks, delusions, trouble moving and muscle rigidity.

“I’ve spent this last year trying to find out what killed Robin,” Susan Williams told People. “One of the doctors said, ‘Robin was very aware that he was losing his mind and there was nothing he could do about it.’”

Here’s what you need to know about this complex, little-understood disease.

What is Lewy body dementia?

A progressive brain disorder in which microscopic protein deposits, called Lewy bodies, develop in the brain. Lewy body dementia (LBD) has symptoms that often include changes in thinking, problem solving, memory and movement. It’s the second most common type of dementia, after Alzheimer’s disease, and accounts for about 20% of all cases of dementia.

Still, says Angela Taylor, director of programs at the Lewy Body Dementia Association,“it’s decades behind Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease as far as the scientific advances and understanding of the disease.”

How many people have it, and who’s most affected?

LBD affects about 1.3 million Americans, according to estimates from the Lewy Body Dementia Association, but the diagnosis rate is much lower. People who get LBD are often older adults ages 50 and up. Men are slightly more likely to get LBD than women, Taylor says, while Alzheimer’s disease is more prevalent in women.

What are the symptoms?

“There’s no single usual first symptom,” says Taylor, and people with the disease experience different combinations of symptoms and severity. Typical symptoms can include problems with abstract or analytical thinking and problem-solving. “In the beginning, their memories may be relatively intact, and they may not notice overt memory problems,” Taylor says. But people who have LBD often have problems with attention and alertness.

In addition to cognitive changes, other hallmark features are visual hallucinations and changes in movement that might resemble Parkinson’s disease, Taylor says. “Over time, people with LBD will lose freeness of movement; their muscle movements become more rigid, they may have a change in their gait,” she says. Facial expressions also reduce over the course of the disease.

Sleep is often altered as well, and people with LBD often have excessive daytime sleepiness. One major symptom is REM sleep behavior disorder, in which people physically act out their dreams, thrash, kick or hit, potentially injuring themselves and others. REM sleep behavior disorder can start even a decade before a person presents with cognitive symptoms, Taylor says. Along with hallucinations, REM sleep behavior disorder is one of the early indicators suggesting that a person has LBD and not Alzheimer’s disease, she says.

Why is it often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease?

LBD is often mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease, since the two share some similar symptoms like changes in thinking. Patients may even demonstrate brain pathology indicative of both disorders at the same time. But the two diseases are different. LBD patients often decline faster than Alzheimer’s patients; the average age of death is about six years younger in people with LBD than with Alzheimer’s. They also tend to have more functional impairment, and because of the complex symptoms, their care may be more challenging.

Getting the diagnosis right can be critical. People with LBD can become extremely sensitive to medication—especially some medicines that are used safely by someone who has Alzheimer’s disease, Taylor says.

How is it diagnosed?

A person must have a cluster of several LBD symptoms to get a diagnosis. After a medical history, clinical exam and neurologic exam, the doctor will likely order blood tests and brain imaging to rule out other causes for cognitive change, Taylor says. They may also refer a patient for a battery of cognitive tests.

“A lot of clinicians don’t screen for all the LBD symptoms,” Taylor says, which can make it challenging to differentiate between different types of dementia. “We always recommend people go to a memory disorder clinic which they can find often at a teaching hospital.”

Can it be cured or treated?

“Like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, the only treatments for LBD are to help manage the symptoms, to really provide improvements that help with quality of life,” Taylor says. “Unfortunately, there are no treatments that can alter the course of the disease, slow it down or stop it.” After symptoms start, a person generally has five to eight years to live.

This makes early detection important for both the patient and family. “The earlier we recognize the disease, the more we have the opportunity to help families have the knowledge and resources they need to help them understand what they’re dealing with,” Taylor says.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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