Question:
My Mother-In-Law has been diagnosed with dementia recently(although it has been obvious to me for a few years now) and my father inlaw is her primary care giver. He has vision problems as well and has had avery painful corneal transplant almost 12 months ago. I know that I, beingthe spouse of their closest relative will probably become more involved intheir care in the coming years.

she has been accepted on a trial program of somethingcalled AIT-082 which is to start (AFAIK) in February. Does anyone have anyexperience with this drug? Apart from this my FIL has started her on GingkoBiloba (sp?) and has changed to a mostly organic diet consisting of a lotof juiced vegetables and fruit. He is optimistic that he can cure her and Iam reluctant to say anything to take that hope away, at least until I knowmore about it.

Another question I have is what is the difference between Dementia andAlzheimer's?

Answer: Dementia is a symptom and Alzheimer's is one of severaldiseases/conditions that cause that symptom. If your M-I-L has beenaccepted for a clinical drug trial, I guess her doctor has ruled outthe more treatable causes of her dementia, though that still does notmean it is Alzheimer's. I don't know anything about the drug youmentioned, but Ginko Biloba can't hurt. It won't "cure" Alzheimer's,nor will an organic diet--if it is indeed Alzheimer's, it is to dateincurable. You really need to find out the diagnosis beforeproceeding.

he normal drill is that the doc should try to find out the root cause- because that will tell you what, if anything, can be done to help orslow down the progress. If your doctor has not done this, ask to bereferred to a specialist - usually either a geriatric psychiatrist or aneurologist who specializes in dementia causing diseases.

You need a diagnosis of the underlying cause before you can know whatthe prognosis is. If it is Alzheimers, it is grim. There are some drugsthat can slow it down a bit in some people (they don't work foreveryone, and some experience problematic side effects), but there isnothing that can reverse or cure the disease.