There are 3 main forms of dementia and each have their own symptoms. 75% of seniors aged 75-years-old and older have some dementia. So, keeping an eye out for symptoms is a good idea.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. It starts are having difficulties making "wise decisions" and problems with math. Danger signals are difficulties with finances or appearing to trust strangers with confidential information. Good news is that medications do help in the early stages. Later stages involve loss of recent memories and increasing loss of memory as the disease progresses.
Parkinson's disease is also called Lewy Body Dementia. The early stages of Parkinson's disease are rigidity in movement that is not arthritis and imbalance. In the early stages, medications also help. The dementia is a much later symptom.
Vascular dementia or "stroke-related" dementia is caused by impaired blood supply to parts of the brain. The symptoms will depend on which part(s) are impacted. Any change in mental ability, physical ability, or wakefulness should be promptly evaluated in the emergency department. If caught early, strokes caused by clots can be reversed by "clot-busting" medications. If the problem is caught late or the result of a "bleed" in the brain, then rehab and follow-on care is the usual course of action taken.
While some forms of dementia can be hereditary, there are many many different causes for dementia. Also, as others noted, the surgery itself (anesthesia) could have had an impact. More often than not, this impact is temporary - it could last a few months and in a few cases the person never reverts back to their normal before surgery, but most of the time it is transitory.
More important is to consider the "signs" you are seeing. Several have posted some classic signs, but these don't always occur in everyone and are dependent on the underlying cause of dementia and the individual.
Dementia is really an umbrella term. It covers the cognitive issues seen in a number of patients, but the causes are varied and the "signs" or symptoms seen can/do vary widely.
It's best to note what your mother's "normal" was before the surgery. IF most of the changes occurred post surgery, then note them and monitor them for improvement or not. If she improves over time, then most likely it was the surgery. If she was exhibiting issues before the surgery, there still could be underlying medical issues that can mimic some of the classic signs of dementia. Give her some time to recover from the surgery and monitor her while that happens. If she bounces back, then no real worries yet. If she doesn't bounce back, then it would be wise to get her assessed/tested. Before taking her back to the doc, try a home UTI test. UTIs (and other infections) can wreak havoc even on those elders who don't have dementia.
NOTE: the test most PCPs administer in their office as part of a regular exam isn't sufficient. That test is designed to test only some cognitive skills to get a baseline. Subsequent tests can show if there's been a marked decline, suggesting further specialized testing might be needed. If she's had one or more of these tests, then certainly a repeat AFTER sufficient time for recovery can highlight weaknesses, but it should not be used to diagnose anyone.
I would read about it (the stages) on the Alzheimer’s Association website. The situation is not black and white, and it can be slow or fast. Everyone is different. There are other factors you need to consider, like loss of skills, personality changes, loss of physical abilities and/or verbal abilities, as well as cognitive skills. You could take her to a neurologist, but do you really want to subject her to that? Ask yourself, would it change anything?
if she is still lucid, get her financial matters and POAs in order before a formal diagnosis is made, otherwise you will not be able change things afterwards.
It’s probably different for everyone, but in my dads case I can think back and realize the onset was 10 years before he died. He had vascular dementia so it’s a bit different than Alzheimer’s. The first thing we noticed was that he’d tell big tales we knew could not be true but he told them as though they actually happened. He also started to care a lot less about his personal appearance and he would resist coming to see us even when we offered to drive him back and forth. He’d agree to a visit and the day of he’d call and say he was ill. Finally toward the end he was a mess and so was his house. We started to see shutoff notices and his bills and other papers were scattered everywhere. This was very out of character for him.
I've had episodic dementia due to high levels of a toxin in my blood which are usually addressed. The types of things that would happen: - I would lose track of where I was and what I was doing - I forgot that I was removing my shoes, but I'd look at my shoes and know that I was supposed to do something about them, no idea what. My spouse says that my eyes would look glazed and I would have trouble responding to questions. - I couldn't remember the right order to do things, like get breakfast. I would start and then not know what to do with the bread, butter, toaster, peanut butter for example. - I would forget significant, physical actions, like not just "where did I put my wallet?" but "why did I go downstairs?" or then "hey, as long as I'm downstairs, I'll clean up!" (meanwhile, I was on my way out of the house for an appointment...)
Certainly, if you don't notice anything cognitive (memory, alertness, following through with tasks independently) dropping off, that's a great sign! If your mom can follow a conversation well (ignore repeating old stories! that is NOT a sign of dementia, it's the human condition!) and drive to the store to get some items (and not forget why she left the house), if she talks to different people differently based on who they are (doesn't ask the mailman "why don't you visit your grandma more often?), that's great!
The best bet is to keep her involved and get a checkup with a gerontologist. Puzzles, reading books, exploring travel online (whether or not she can go), all of those things help, with conversation and staying in tune with the family is the best bellwether and "preventative".
And of course, one of the ways to keep her "involved" is to discuss her future plans - if anything happens, would she rather stay home with an aide, would she move in with one of her children, is she financially secure now? Naming a POA is a great idea for anyone with health issues, then an advanced care directive and a will. A lot of parents will write a will when they have kids, but some never update it after a spouse's passing or moving to a new house.
With my mom, the first sign was that she couldn't tell time. I hadn't really associated that with Alzheimer's at first, but I learned that Alzheimer's doesn't only (or doesn't always) involve memory issues. It can include agitation, aggravation (for caregiver and Alzheimer's patient alike), hallucinations delusions, etc. I could write a book. Speaking of which, I did. It's called, "My Mother Has Alzheimer's and My Dog Has Tapeworms: A Caregiver's Tale." (I thought of the title when I was driving home form work 1 day, and I realized that my once broad life was reduced to the pressing health concerns of my mom and dog.) It includes many anecdotes where we dealt with the various manifestations of Alzheimer's. Since there are so many types of dementia, (Lewy Body Dementia, Alzheimer's, vascular dementia, etc.), I'd make sure to get an accurate diagnosis from a neurologist and/or a geriatrician. Best of luck.
Unfortunately everyone of every age has now lived through a year of drastic social deprivation.
The consequences of this are hopefully much less for some but painfully, much more for others, but I suspect that qualified cognitive assessment specialists will be considering this as they administer evaluations to anyone with suspected cognitive loss, and particularly the aging who have been entrapped, some of us for over a year.
A good question to ask, when we as caregivers are looking for testing for our LOs.
Make sure all of your mother's paperwork is in place while she's still capable of signing legal documents. This includes powers of attorney for medical and financial affairs, a living will explaining her medical directives, a will if she has assets, and many financial institutions have their own POA forms. Somebody needs to be on file with Medicare and Social Security to be able to speak on her behalf. You may require an attorney (if she has assets). If she's getting forgetful and making mistakes in judgement, You need to have the talk with her on how she would like to live if she is no longer taking care of herself. There are two basic choices: in-home caregivers or moving to assisted living. The options are also based on her finances. This is not an easy discussion to have with a parent. At some point she may no longer be able to drive, and the POA might have to take over her finances. Sometimes parents are happy to turn over their finances to the children (or POA). If there are caregivers coming to her place, be sure that valuables and financial papers, credit cards, etc. are locked up. You may have to dementia-proof her place (lock up all sharp knives, scissors and dangerous objects). There may come a time when she shouldn't have access to the stove or microwave. If she's a wanderer, she might have to get tracker bracelets or anklets to wear.
"Somebody needs to be on file with Medicare and Social Security to be able to speak on her behalf."
Sometimes they will allow the person to grant okay to talk to you, when a call is placed, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no way to "be on file" with either. If/when one needs to take over as POA, the LEGAL method for managing another person's SS is to apply to be Rep Payee. This is SS rules, not mine. Once approved, you also become rep for Medicare.
That said, sure, if one has control over a person's bank account where SS is deposited, one can muddle along and pay bills, etc. My point is per SS the ONLY legal way to use their funds for them is to be Rep Payee. It really isn't all that difficult and the yearly reporting can be done online, via your own SS account.
My mum is 81 and is showing the signs like forgetting things, can’t remember how to turn on her washing machine or can’t remember how to use the microwave telling the same story over and over again thinking that the Carers are stealing from her getting mixed up when you tell her something she can’t take it in anymore and changes the subject all the time but refuses to get tested good luck
"When you've met one person with dementia, you've met one person with dementia."
Which means: we could regurgitate a list of common signs - although alz.org does a first rate job, if that's what you're looking for? - but we can't possibly know what's normal for your mother, which signs *in her* might be a sign of dementia or might be a sign of someone having given her a new t.v. set (or general anaesthesia recently, for that matter).
And that's before you even consider how many different types of dementia there are, and how each one can interact with and exacerbate other health issues.
Really, the key thing you're looking for is *change.*
E.g. She used to get five books a week from the lending library, but now the same title has had the same bookmark in it for a month (could also be problems with eyesight, fatigue, depression...) She used to drive into town every Tuesday, then come on to your house to share a meal. On a couple of occasions she's been later than you expected. Then last week she called you, very upset, to say she'd missed her turning and didn't know where she was, please give her directions to find your house. On the subject of cars and driving: mysterious little dinks in fenders or wheelarches or hub caps - treat with caution any explanation she has for these that doesn't make immediate sense. A small but marked change in personality: for example, the same lady who brought you up to know that "we never make personal remarks, darling" announces to the entire checkout line that the cashier is so fat she can hardly fit on her chair. Repetition amounting to obsession of questions regarding e.g. whether a bill has been paid, the window is shut, your brother is coming to see her.
It's often only in retrospect that we see the signs were *there.* Do you have any specific concerns about what's happening with your mother?
I love all your examples of behavior changes. Definitely not boring. In spite of the difficulty of dealing with dementia behaviors, it does bring a smile to read your list of typical behavior quirks.
The 10 warning signs of dementia Sign 1: Memory loss that affects day-to-day abilities. Sign 2: Difficulty performing familiar tasks. Sign 3: Problems with language. Sign 4: Disorientation in time and space. Sign 5: Impaired judgement. Sign 6: Problems with abstract thinking. Sign 7: Misplacing things.
After my mother was diagnosed with progressive dementia (we believe it's vascular dementia), she started calling me her mother (to others). She could act totally lucid most of the time, yet call me her mother. She also started having real trouble with what day of the week it was, constantly thinking it was Saturday when it was Tuesday, things like that. Asking repetitive questions, struggling to find the right word to use in a sentence, losing her train of thought (BIG one), losing hand coordination (dropping her fork a lot while eating), falling, slurring words, putting her pills in coffee cups in the kitchen cabinet 'to take later' and then forgetting to, and a lot of other things, too.
Funkygrandma is right, too, by saying that anesthesia can cause sudden dementia-like symptoms in an elder and even hospital delirium that doesn't always 'wear off'. In fact, my cousin has had so many surgeries that her doctor told her she'd be experiencing memory loss as a result of all the anesthesia! She's 73 now (I think) and talking to her is unbelievable...........she definitely has dementia symptoms 100% these days. Her memory is totally shot.
Wishing you the best of luck finding a dx for your mom
In the case of my mother, who has vascular dementia, it started with her asking the same question again two or three times a day. It evolved to the same question multiple times an hour, and it just went downhill from there.
Her issues started after a bout with pleural effusion. I'm convinced she was running on low blood oxygen much longer than anyone realized, because she's never been the same since then. That was in 2014.
In your profile you state that your mom recently had shoulder replacement surgery. Sadly when anesthesia is used on the elderly or ones with signs of mental decline, it makes their cognitive abilities much worse. I don't know if your moms Dr. explained that to you, but they should have. Sometimes the effects will wear off over time, and sometimes they do not. Was she showing any signs of mental decline before her surgery? If not you can rest assure it's caused by the anesthesia. Otherwise signs vary, from incontinence, to unsteady gait,(falling) to forgetting how to do simple things, or where things are, or who people are, all depending on what kind of dementia one has. If you are concerned, I would recommend taking your mom to a neurologist, where they can do a thorough exam, to determine exactly what's going on. Good luck.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. It starts are having difficulties making "wise decisions" and problems with math. Danger signals are difficulties with finances or appearing to trust strangers with confidential information. Good news is that medications do help in the early stages. Later stages involve loss of recent memories and increasing loss of memory as the disease progresses.
Parkinson's disease is also called Lewy Body Dementia. The early stages of Parkinson's disease are rigidity in movement that is not arthritis and imbalance. In the early stages, medications also help. The dementia is a much later symptom.
Vascular dementia or "stroke-related" dementia is caused by impaired blood supply to parts of the brain. The symptoms will depend on which part(s) are impacted. Any change in mental ability, physical ability, or wakefulness should be promptly evaluated in the emergency department. If caught early, strokes caused by clots can be reversed by "clot-busting" medications. If the problem is caught late or the result of a "bleed" in the brain, then rehab and follow-on care is the usual course of action taken.
More important is to consider the "signs" you are seeing. Several have posted some classic signs, but these don't always occur in everyone and are dependent on the underlying cause of dementia and the individual.
Dementia is really an umbrella term. It covers the cognitive issues seen in a number of patients, but the causes are varied and the "signs" or symptoms seen can/do vary widely.
It's best to note what your mother's "normal" was before the surgery. IF most of the changes occurred post surgery, then note them and monitor them for improvement or not. If she improves over time, then most likely it was the surgery. If she was exhibiting issues before the surgery, there still could be underlying medical issues that can mimic some of the classic signs of dementia. Give her some time to recover from the surgery and monitor her while that happens. If she bounces back, then no real worries yet. If she doesn't bounce back, then it would be wise to get her assessed/tested. Before taking her back to the doc, try a home UTI test. UTIs (and other infections) can wreak havoc even on those elders who don't have dementia.
NOTE: the test most PCPs administer in their office as part of a regular exam isn't sufficient. That test is designed to test only some cognitive skills to get a baseline. Subsequent tests can show if there's been a marked decline, suggesting further specialized testing might be needed. If she's had one or more of these tests, then certainly a repeat AFTER sufficient time for recovery can highlight weaknesses, but it should not be used to diagnose anyone.
if she is still lucid, get her financial matters and POAs in order before a formal diagnosis is made, otherwise you will not be able change things afterwards.
- I would lose track of where I was and what I was doing - I forgot that I was removing my shoes, but I'd look at my shoes and know that I was supposed to do something about them, no idea what. My spouse says that my eyes would look glazed and I would have trouble responding to questions.
- I couldn't remember the right order to do things, like get breakfast. I would start and then not know what to do with the bread, butter, toaster, peanut butter for example.
- I would forget significant, physical actions, like not just "where did I put my wallet?" but "why did I go downstairs?" or then "hey, as long as I'm downstairs, I'll clean up!" (meanwhile, I was on my way out of the house for an appointment...)
Certainly, if you don't notice anything cognitive (memory, alertness, following through with tasks independently) dropping off, that's a great sign! If your mom can follow a conversation well (ignore repeating old stories! that is NOT a sign of dementia, it's the human condition!) and drive to the store to get some items (and not forget why she left the house), if she talks to different people differently based on who they are (doesn't ask the mailman "why don't you visit your grandma more often?), that's great!
The best bet is to keep her involved and get a checkup with a gerontologist. Puzzles, reading books, exploring travel online (whether or not she can go), all of those things help, with conversation and staying in tune with the family is the best bellwether and "preventative".
And of course, one of the ways to keep her "involved" is to discuss her future plans - if anything happens, would she rather stay home with an aide, would she move in with one of her children, is she financially secure now? Naming a POA is a great idea for anyone with health issues, then an advanced care directive and a will. A lot of parents will write a will when they have kids, but some never update it after a spouse's passing or moving to a new house.
The consequences of this are hopefully much less for some but painfully, much more for others, but I suspect that qualified cognitive assessment specialists will be considering this as they administer evaluations to anyone with suspected cognitive loss, and particularly the aging who have been entrapped, some of us for over a year.
A good question to ask, when we as caregivers are looking for testing for our LOs.
Sometimes they will allow the person to grant okay to talk to you, when a call is placed, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no way to "be on file" with either. If/when one needs to take over as POA, the LEGAL method for managing another person's SS is to apply to be Rep Payee. This is SS rules, not mine. Once approved, you also become rep for Medicare.
That said, sure, if one has control over a person's bank account where SS is deposited, one can muddle along and pay bills, etc. My point is per SS the ONLY legal way to use their funds for them is to be Rep Payee. It really isn't all that difficult and the yearly reporting can be done online, via your own SS account.
"When you've met one person with dementia, you've met one person with dementia."
Which means: we could regurgitate a list of common signs - although alz.org does a first rate job, if that's what you're looking for? - but we can't possibly know what's normal for your mother, which signs *in her* might be a sign of dementia or might be a sign of someone having given her a new t.v. set (or general anaesthesia recently, for that matter).
And that's before you even consider how many different types of dementia there are, and how each one can interact with and exacerbate other health issues.
Really, the key thing you're looking for is *change.*
E.g. She used to get five books a week from the lending library, but now the same title has had the same bookmark in it for a month (could also be problems with eyesight, fatigue, depression...)
She used to drive into town every Tuesday, then come on to your house to share a meal. On a couple of occasions she's been later than you expected. Then last week she called you, very upset, to say she'd missed her turning and didn't know where she was, please give her directions to find your house.
On the subject of cars and driving: mysterious little dinks in fenders or wheelarches or hub caps - treat with caution any explanation she has for these that doesn't make immediate sense.
A small but marked change in personality: for example, the same lady who brought you up to know that "we never make personal remarks, darling" announces to the entire checkout line that the cashier is so fat she can hardly fit on her chair.
Repetition amounting to obsession of questions regarding e.g. whether a bill has been paid, the window is shut, your brother is coming to see her.
It's often only in retrospect that we see the signs were *there.* Do you have any specific concerns about what's happening with your mother?
Sign 1: Memory loss that affects day-to-day abilities.
Sign 2: Difficulty performing familiar tasks.
Sign 3: Problems with language.
Sign 4: Disorientation in time and space.
Sign 5: Impaired judgement.
Sign 6: Problems with abstract thinking.
Sign 7: Misplacing things.
After my mother was diagnosed with progressive dementia (we believe it's vascular dementia), she started calling me her mother (to others). She could act totally lucid most of the time, yet call me her mother. She also started having real trouble with what day of the week it was, constantly thinking it was Saturday when it was Tuesday, things like that. Asking repetitive questions, struggling to find the right word to use in a sentence, losing her train of thought (BIG one), losing hand coordination (dropping her fork a lot while eating), falling, slurring words, putting her pills in coffee cups in the kitchen cabinet 'to take later' and then forgetting to, and a lot of other things, too.
Funkygrandma is right, too, by saying that anesthesia can cause sudden dementia-like symptoms in an elder and even hospital delirium that doesn't always 'wear off'. In fact, my cousin has had so many surgeries that her doctor told her she'd be experiencing memory loss as a result of all the anesthesia! She's 73 now (I think) and talking to her is unbelievable...........she definitely has dementia symptoms 100% these days. Her memory is totally shot.
Wishing you the best of luck finding a dx for your mom
Her issues started after a bout with pleural effusion. I'm convinced she was running on low blood oxygen much longer than anyone realized, because she's never been the same since then. That was in 2014.
Was she showing any signs of mental decline before her surgery? If not you can rest assure it's caused by the anesthesia.
Otherwise signs vary, from incontinence, to unsteady gait,(falling) to forgetting how to do simple things, or where things are, or who people are, all depending on what kind of dementia one has.
If you are concerned, I would recommend taking your mom to a neurologist, where they can do a thorough exam, to determine exactly what's going on. Good luck.