Question:
My mom started to have memory lapsesabout 4 years ago. Now they are becoming worse, she is beginning to forgether grandchildren (she thinks they are nieces & nephews).My dad insists that they did a CT scan and it didn't show any signs of AD,but I am very concerned. She is under the impression that my family & I justlive up the street (we are 762 miles away), so she gets mad at me all thetime because I only call her. Sometimes she won't even talk to me for weeks.She remembers things that happened when she was a child up to about 7 or 8years ago. She thinks I am divorced, I am still very much married.She sometimes forgets that she has already put undergarments and will add &add until she is wearing all that she has. She also wears her clothesinside-out. Is it also common for them to have pain with no medical reason?My question is: Can they diagnose AD with just a CT? It breaks my heart tohave her like this. My dad also said that they gave her some AD meds. andthat it didn't help. I really don't trust the Dr. that they go to as he isjust a small town Dr. I have tried to get my dad to take her to aneurologist, but he says she doesn't have Alzheimers.

Answer: the symptoms your mother is having sound very typical ofAlzheimers.

Alzheimers is currently diagnosed by ruling out everything else itmight be, such as small strokes, drug interactions, thyroid problems,pernicious anemia etc. etc. The purpose of a brain scan is not todiagnose Alzheimers, but to rule out strokes, tumours and other brainlesions. If nothing was found on the CT, that doesn't mean your motherdoesn't have Alzheimers. It just means she doesn't have brain damagedue to something else like little teeny strokes.

Normally, an exam to diagnose Alzheimers would involve not only ascan, but a full physical with various blood tests to make surenothing else is going on that might cause confusion and memoryproblems. After that, it is normal to have a psychiatric exam to ruleout depression and other forms of mental illness, and cognitive teststo figure out exactly where she has deficits and to what degree (youwill likely be shocked by the results).

Your mother actually sounds like her illness is fairly advanced. Yourdad needs some help with this, as plans need to be made for the futurenow. If she has Alzheimers, this is a disease that is a one way slidedown a hill, and not just memory is affected, but ability to reason,judgement, perception, reflexes....and ultimately, muscle control,balance, bladder and bowel control etc. etc.

First step is to get some expert assessment. I have a feeling yourfather is accutely aware there is something seriously wrong with yourmother and just doesn't want to face it. However, since he is going toneed help with her care, and there are many things to arrange (wills,powers of attorney, financial considerations), he needs to get thisdiagnosed and start dealing with the reality, before he gets to crisispoint (i.e. she wanders off, has a domestic accident such as a fireetc.)