Report: Casey Kasem Suffering From Form of Dementia

The mystery surrounding ailing disc jockey Casey Kasem deepened this week, according to NBC News, after his children told a Los Angeles judge that the radio legend suffers from Lewy body dementia, a disease that experts say is both common and widely underdiagnosed.

The 82-year-old Top 40 radio host remained missing Tuesday after his family said he was abruptly removed from a medical center that had been treating him for the disorder that resembles better-known dementias associated with Alzhemier’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

That concerns experts who help treat the estimated 1.3 million Americans and their families affected by Lewy body dementia, or LBD. It can be traumatic and disorienting for dementia patients, including those with LBD, to have their surroundings change suddenly, said Keith Fargo, director of scientific programs and outreach for the Alzhemier’s Association.

“In general, large changes are challenging to people with dementia,” Fargo said.

Lewy body dementia is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease, but the two conditions have different causes and symptoms, said Dr. James E. Galvin, a professor of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center. Alzheimer’s is characterized by abnormal brain plaques and tangles caused by the proteins known as beta amyloid and tau. LBD, however, is characterized by "Lewy bodies" — abnormal clumps of a protein called alpha-synuclein.

In Alzheimer’s patients, lapses in short-term memory are among the first symptoms, while LBD patients might encounter severe disruptions in attention and judgment, Fargo said.

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