Can a neurologist tell if your mother has Alzheimer's or does a psychologist make that diagnosis?
My mother is 84 yrs. old and within the past 6mos. has shown a major change in personality. Refusal to talk or be with family members, lying, extremely argumentative with family, signs of depressive episodes, inappropriate in public.
Bablou is right, bloods first to rule out anything underlying that might be causing an issue then referral if needed. You need www before this and him after it but .helpguide/articles/alzheimers-dementia/understanding-dementia. is useful
Inappropriate in public sounds more like frontal temporal lobe dementia: The hallmark of FTD is a gradual, progressive decline in behavior and/or language (with memory usually relatively preserved). As the disease progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to plan or organize activities, behave appropriately in social or work settings, interact with others, and care for oneself taken from the association for Frontal Temporal degeneration, although she is quite old at 84 to be getting this (however it's not unknown)
We took my mom to a team that included a neurologist and a neuropsychologist. Based on brain scans, cognitive testing and neurological exams, they were able to tell us what was going on.
I think it's always important to have an MD involved so that blood work can be done to rule out metabolic issues such as thyroid problems or vitamin deficiency issues.
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I think it's always important to have an MD involved so that blood work can be done to rule out metabolic issues such as thyroid problems or vitamin deficiency issues.