My husband has early dementia. Is it normal for him to sleep most of the time?

So beginning about seven years ago he began to fall a lot and have memory problems, a scan revealed hardening of the arteries in the brain (which is associated with vascular dementia, strokes, and possibly Alzheimer's). He now can no follow tv plots and he sleeps about 15 hours a day. Is that the situation?

I would conclude that this is past the early stage of dementia. Fifteen hours of sleep per day is not in the range of the final stages, but it would be unusual for early stage, I think.

Your husband's doctor should be informed of any changes in his health or his symptoms. Discuss your concerns with that doctor.

I found that when my husband could no longer follow television plots he still could enjoy old programs he liked, on DVDs. The characters were familiar, the plots were recognizable (even if he didn't remember the episode) and they were not interrupted by commercials. He loved Hogan's Heroes, Mash, and even old Dragnet episodes. These gave him something to take interest in.

Joyce, could you tell us a little more about your father? I would expect this for someone in later stages of dementia, but not in the early stages. Maybe something else is causing him to sleep so much??

i cant ( wont ) follow a tv plot either . its to sappy ignorant butchered up by 50 % commercials . one scrap of violence or mood music insults my perceived intelligence and i turn the dam thing off . thats what i would do if i even had a tv .,.

my husband...he is 78 years old, never was tested for this, but a brain scan gave an answer for his falling a lot to harding of the arteries. he gave up driving seven years ago because he couldn't remember how to get anywhere, and kept getting lost

My brother's first symptom of Parkinson's was getting lost driving. He did enjoy tapes of an opera that he liked and watched over and over again, rarely watched regular TV. I've heard of Alzheimer's patients that enjoyed traditional gospel songs sung by George Beverly Shea, because the slow, low voice was easy for them to follow.