Is my COPD mother's odd behavior related to possible Alzheimer's?
The only way to tell if your mother with COPD has symptoms of Alzheimer's is to have a neurological evaluation performed in a hospital setting. People who have other disease entities, such as COPD, may also develop Alzheimer's or one of the other related diseases. An evaluation of her behavior and your reporting the changes you have witnessed along with specific areas of testing can offer a more concrete diagnosis. She may need to be followed over the course of the next few years to monitor the changes in her cognition and behavior to better understand what is happening. Do discuss your mother's memory loss and compulsive/obsessive issues with the physician who diagnosed the COPD; he may confirm these manifestations as part of COPD or he may suggest further evaluation.
A mild dimentia of a COPD patient can be caused by elevated CO2. The use of a Bi-pap machine will reduce or eliminate the confusion if this is the cause. Too high of an oxygen level adds to the CO2 being elevated.
