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Levodopa treatment and mood fluctuation in dementia with L ewy bodies: a case report
Author(s) -
Fujishiro Hiroshige,
Kasanuki Koji,
Nakamura Shinichiro
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
psychogeriatrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1479-8301
pISSN - 1346-3500
DOI - 10.1111/psyg.12025
Subject(s) - mood , parkinsonism , dementia , levodopa , dementia with lewy bodies , antipsychotic , mood swing , depressed mood , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , parkinson's disease , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , disease
L ‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine ( L ‐dopa) has been the gold standard for pharmacotherapy for parkinsonism in patients with dementia with L ewy bodies ( DLB ). While L ‐dopa treatment is related to visual hallucinations, its relationship to mood fluctuation in DLB is poorly understood. Herein, we report the improvement of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia through the adjustment of L ‐dopa treatment in a 78‐year‐old woman with probable DLB . Her marked mood swings were improved by changing L ‐dopa administration from three to five times per day while maintaining the same total daily dosage. This observation suggests that there may be an association between plasmatic L ‐dopa levels and mood fluctuation in patients with DLB . This pharmacological approach may be useful in the management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia without the use of antipsychotic agents to avoid severe neuroleptic sensitivity, which is one of the suggestive clinical features in the T hird C onsortium on DLB clinical criteria.