Expert: Paula Damgaard - 6/24/2006

Question
Paula,
  I have a 78 year old mother-in-law who has not been herself for the last 2-1/2 yrs. Since her husband died 2-1/2 yrs ago, she has had her hands full with her bi-polar daughter. We are noticing changes in her personality where she is combative, argumentative, has problems sleeping, she gets lost while out driving, forgets simple names, is convinced that everybody is out to get her, and recounts recent events completely different from how they actually happened. Is this alzheimer's?

Answer
Joe, I would never presume to diagnose someone this way, but I would tell you that there are over 75 causes for someone to have signs of dementia.  One of the biggest is depression.  Your mother in law has every reason to be depressed.  I would suggest that you take her to the doctor.  Especially one who would have experience with elderly, memory problems.  If she is already on an antidepressant, it could be that it isn't the right one for her.

Having the correct diagnosis, will answer the question.  When we see people in our clinic we first do a full battery of neuropsych testing (takes about 4 hours), then they are seen by the neurologist, who does a full exam and then decides whether or not a scan is needed and/or blood work, depending on what has already been done before we see them.  

Early diagnosis is the key to getting the most of the treatments available if she does indeed have AD. also some of the correctable dementias, can be permanant damage if not corrected quickly.  Hope this helps.  Paula