pregabalin and Lewy-Body-Disease

Many patients with Lewy body disease complain of pain, and their pain may be associated with this disease. Recently, pain has become a focus of attention in Parkinson's disease, but there is little information regarding pain in patients who have dementia with Lewy bodies. We used pregabalin to treat three Lewy body disease patients with chronic pain that may have been related to degeneration of central neurons. All three patients responded well to pregabalin at 25-50 mg/day. To our knowledge, there have been no previous reports of pregabalin showing efficacy for central neuropathic pain in Parkinson's disease or Lewy body disease.

Topics: Aged; Analgesics; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Humans; Lewy Body Disease; Male; Neuralgia; Pregabalin; Treatment Outcome

Many patients with Lewy body disease (LBD) complain of pain, although the detailed mechanism responsible for LBD-related pain remains to be clarified. Moreover, there does not appear to be any reports about LBD patients suffering from an itching sensation. In this report, the case of an LBD patient who experienced severe itching that persisted for over 6 months, which was treated successfully with low-dose pregabalin therapy, is described. This is the first study to report the effects of low-dose pregabalin, which has been used to treat LBD-related pain, to treat itching in a patient with LBD.

Topics: Aged, 80 and over; Analgesics; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Humans; Lewy Body Disease; Male; Neuralgia; Pregabalin; Pruritus; Treatment Outcome