Citation

Williams SS. Neurology 2016; 87(13): 1308-1311.

Affiliation

From Susan Schneider Fine Art, Marin County, CA. susan@susanschneiderfineart.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1212/WNL.0000000000003162

PMID

27672165

Abstract

This is a personal story, sadly tragic and heartbreaking, but by sharing this information with you I know that you can help make a difference in the lives of others.

As you may know, my husband Robin Williams had the little-known but deadly Lewy body disease (LBD). He died from suicide in 2014 at the end of an intense, confusing, and relatively swift persecution at the hand of this disease's symptoms and pathology. He was not alone in his traumatic experience with this neurologic disease. As you may know, almost 1.5 million nationwide are suffering similarly right now.

Although not alone, his case was extreme. Not until the coroner's report, 3 months after his death, would I learn that it was diffuse LBD that took him. All 4 of the doctors I met with afterwards and who had reviewed his records indicated his was one of the worst pathologies they had seen. He had about 40% loss of dopamine neurons and almost no neurons were free of Lewy bodies throughout the entire brain and brainstem...

Language: en