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There appears to be some confusion about Lewy Bodies and their Relevance to Parkinson's Disease. The following account was given by a Researcher at the University of Nottingham Queen's Medical Centre, where I believe the link between Lewy bodies and PD was first discovered. Lewy bodies are found in the brains of PWPs, particularly in the area of the Substantia Nigra. they are in fact the dead remains of nerve cells which have died for reasons as yet unknown. The presence of Lewy bodies is the only 100% guaranteed way to be certain that a person had PD : Unfortunately lewy bodies can only be detected by post-mortem examination, so it is of little practical use to us (Although of course it is a vital tool to Pathologists and Researchers trying to understand the disease.) There is more to the subject: Some of you will possibly suffer the PD symptom where partial or total loss of speech occurs. Post mortem examination of such patients shows concentrations of Lewy bodies also in the areas controlling speech. Occasionally, a person who has displayed classic signs of PD for many years, will suddenly start to display behaviour more consistent with Alzheimer's Disease than Parkinson's. In these cases it is sometimes found that large areas of the brain contain Lewy bodies or in other words, large areas of the brain are dying. This process is quite different to that which occurs in true Alzheimer's Disease, and is known as Lewy body disease. Regards, -- Brian Collins <[log in to unmask]>