Death of Nathalie Baye: what is Lewy body disease from which the actress suffered?

Goodbye Nathalie Baye. The icon of French cinema since the 1970s and his revelation in “American Night”, died at the age of 77, his family, including actress Laura Smet, announced this Saturday.

Nathalie Baye died Friday evening in Paris. She was ill and her state of health had become worrying since the summer of 2025. Nathalie Baye was fighting a neurodegenerative disease called Lewy body disease.

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Disorders similar to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Lewy body disease (LBD) is the second neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. It also shares some of its symptoms with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

However, it is distinguished by “a usually more rapid evolution and by the marked deterioration of mental faculties”, explains the Federation for Brain Research. Lewy body disease was discovered in the 1960s by Dr. Friederich Heinrich Lewy.

Various disorders depending on the patient

It mainly affects parts of the brain related to cognitive functions and movement. The disorders can vary from one patient to another depending on the areas affected by the disease: dementia, recurrent visual hallucinations, frequent falls, delusions, depression, behavioral disorder, transient loss of consciousness.

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A diagnosis difficult to establish

Due to symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Lewy body disease is complex and difficult to recognize or diagnose. There are no specific treatments for the disease. Treatments are limited to managing symptoms, particularly hallucinations and cognitive deficit.

In 2023, Nathalie Baye signed the manifesto of 109 personalities to call on President Emmanuel Macron to change the law on the end of life.

Like Nathalie Baye, other personalities have suffered from Lewy body disease: the weather presenter Catherine Laborde or the American actor Robin Williams (“Good Morning Vietnam”, “The Circle of Missing Poets”, “Mrs Doubtfire”).