Expert: Michalene Peticca - 7/31/2007

Question
My mother is 62 years old.  About 2 years ago I noticed she had developed a stutter.  Now the stutter has gotten much worse to the point where she cannot even talk without stuttering on every word.  I am very concerned.  She is seeking medical care, but I need to know what the possibilities could be because we will not have any definate answers until Aug. 9.  Please help me by giving me your input.  I understand your answer will not diagnose her, I am just looking for a general idea of what this could be.  She does not get headaches at all.  She has high blood pressure, which she is taking medication for already.she does not have tremors, which rules out parkinsons and she is not suffering from memory problems.  Please advise

Answer
Hi Cathy,
Thank you for writing.
Well, the good news is that your mom does Not have tremors or memory difficulties.  She is still considered "young" nowadays and that may be a blessing in helping her with her current condition.

Although i would not rule out Parkinson's totally, it is quite probable that your mom has suffered some type of mini-stroke(s) and this may be solely affecting her speech.  A good MRI would be able to detect if there has been stroke damage to the brain.  Additionally, with speech therapy...even after a year or two, your mom should be able to regain some of her speaking abilities.   

Based on your mom's history of High blood pressure, i would also get a good blood workup to make sure her chemistry profiles are "balanced".  Again, this is easily done and will yield some good answers as to your mom's overall health right now.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,
Michalene Peticca M.A.