The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) could help differentiate between Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, according to researchers at South Illinois University School of Medicine in Illinois.

Lewy body dementia -- named after abnormal brain cells called Lewy bodies that are distributed in varying degrees throughout the brain -- is very similar to Alzheimer's with progressive loss of memory, language, calculation and reasoning. But the illness may progress more rapidly than Alzheimer's.

Reporting in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, the researchers said they studied the MMSE exams of 44 patients – 17 with Lewy body dementia and 27 with Alzheimer’s disease. All had MMSE scores of 13 points or greater.

Results of the study showed that patients with Lewy body dementia scored worse than Alzheimer’s patients on attention and construction subtests, but had somewhat higher memory scores.

After using a mathematical equation to combine the three test subscores, they concluded that the Lewy body dementia patients scored worse overall.

"Our findings support the work of others … that indicate that the MMSE may be helpful in the differentiation of dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s disease," the researchers concluded.

Other Sources: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry