DEAR DR. GOTT:
Does memory loss and confusion always lead to Alzheimer’s? What exactly is dementia?
My physically healthy husband has no memory of our past 59 years, including yesterday. However, he keeps up his hygiene, does his daily chores, fixes his own meals and more. Out sons are not recognized and our dogs are nameless. I am now the “nice lady” who stays here. He refuses all mental tests claiming that all old men have memory problems and periods of confusion. He seems very serene but nearly every evening he makes bizarre exclamations such as “Those two men came in and said I can’t use the shower”, “Am I supposed to stay overnight?”, “Where did my wife go?” or “This building (meaning our home) is condemned, we have to move.” A few minutes later he won’t even remember saying anything.
Dr. Gott, what is causing these “episodes”?
DEAR READER:
Not all memory loss and confusion leads to Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, I highly doubt that this is what your husband is suffering from because Alzheimer’s patients generally remember the past quite clearly but forget names, dates, and current goings-on.
Dementia is defined as an organic loss of intellectual function. This means that, due to natural causes, memory, cognition, personality and other mental changes occur.
Your husband clearly is having some sort of mental faculty change and, in my opinion, needs to be seen by a neurologist. Given his specific symptoms, there are likely only a few disorders that could cause his situation. It is important that you create a list of his symptoms, when they started and if they were preceded by an accident, injury or other abnormal event.
If you have power of attorney, you should have no problem getting him the testing he desperately needs. However, if you do not, this could become a bit of a sticky situation. He clearly does not want to be seen, but in fact, should be. You may need to prove to a judge that he is incapable of making important decisions and should get a court-approved power-of-attorney.
While this does not sound pleasant, it could be the very thing that saves his life. If his memory loss is the result of a simple, reversible disorder, the longer it goes untreated, the more permanent damage he could be inflicting upon himself. If it is not reversible, however, it is still vital to know what the disorder is. You say you have sons. If not for your husband, find out what it is for them, as many types of dementia can be carried down from family member to family member. As with Alzheimer’s patients, close blood relatives (aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, children, and siblings) could be at an increased risk.
Your husband does not have age-related memory loss and confusion, but without testing, I cannot tell you what the cause is. Get him the help and testing he won’t get for himself.
To give you related information, I am sending you copies of my Health Reports “Alzheimer’s Disease” and “Medical Specialists”. Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 per report to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title(s).
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