# Did Robin Williams know he has Lewy Body dementia **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328 "2015-03-18T21:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328/1 "2015-03-18T21:43:36Z")
I read that the life expectancy after diagnosis is only 2-7 years. Does anyone know if he knew he had the disease, or how far progressed it was? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328/2 "2015-03-18T22:50:58Z")
See [this](http://lbda.org/content/lbda-clarifies-autopsy-report-comedian-robin-williams) from the Lewy Body Dementia Association. He wasn’t diagnosed with dementia but was being treated for early stage Parkinson’s Disease which is closely related and the line between them is somewhat murky. If he knew he had Parkinson’s, he would surely have known that it could bring dementia with it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328/3 "2015-11-04T01:55:12Z")
Bumped. His widow now says he had it: [http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/health/robin-williams-widow-susan-williams/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/health/robin-williams-widow-susan-williams/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328/4 "2015-11-04T02:29:34Z")
yeah, I can see if someone is prone to depression, something like that would push them over the edge. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328/5 "2015-11-04T02:47:03Z")
I read that Lewy Body Dementia can only definitively be diagnosed post mortem, so unless his doctor was sure that he had it I doubt he would have said anything to him. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328/6 "2015-11-04T03:48:29Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > See [this](http://lbda.org/content/lbda-clarifies-autopsy-report-comedian-robin-williams) from the Lewy Body Dementia Association. > > He wasn’t diagnosed with dementia but was being treated for early stage Parkinson’s Disease which is closely related and the line between them is somewhat murky. If he knew he had Parkinson’s, he would surely have known that it could bring dementia with it. My husband has Parkinson’s, and has no clue that dementia can go with it. His mother had Parkinson’s without dementia, and we have friends with Parkinson’s without it, so I don’t think it’s occurred to him. I don’t know that I want to bring it up and have him second guess everything. The disease is miserable enough. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-robin-williams-know-he-has-lewy-body-dementia/715328/7 "2015-11-04T12:57:38Z")
They didn’t know until after the autopsy. [See article in NY Times.](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/health/robin-williams-lewy-body-dementia.html)