Question
Regarding symptoms of dementia if new situations seem to stimulate a more "connected" response rather than confusion could that indicate that mom's symptoms could be related to something else rather than Alzheimers? Mom had a stroke 7 years ago. She recovered pretty well from the stroke but has really been going downhill rapidly lately. Confusion, inability to use words that even make sense, doesn't seem to understand what we are saying. Losing ability to self-dress and self-toilet. We've had her evaluated and they say "dementia" but haven't said Alzheimers specifically.
— kay, in Bozeman, MT
Answer
answered:
When the doctors say your mother has dementia, they are referring to her symptoms. Dementia is not a disease but a set of symptoms including memory loss, changes in attention and abstract reasoning, and so on. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, but it's not the only one. Vascular dementia, for example, is caused by small strokes in the brain. It can be difficult to pinpoint the cause of dementia without a complete medical workup. Ask your mother's doctors what they think the cause of her sudden decline might be.
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