as I'm sure you're concerned. I suspect the definition is very broad. I think my mother had it also, for a few years before her death a few years ago, and life went on. During the 'process' she was diagnosed with cancer, which resulted in her death.

You could surely seek more opinions, and if/when symptoms become pronounced, there are meds that moderate the symptoms. For the time being, if you think she's capable of doing things, I'd let her do them, and encourage it. Would be bad to look at her askance with wondering eyes, resulting in her own uncertainty about her capabilities. (That's MY suggestion.)

You might also post at Seniors.

Good luck.

I find myself overanalyzing everything she says now, looking for "signs." I know you can drive yourself crazy doing this, I'll repost this in seniors, too.

Take care of yourself.

If she is in the early stages of Alzheimers, there are some medications that might be worth trying. They won't cure the illness but they might slow the progression of symptoms a bit.

I don't know how he can rule out Alzheimers because there still isn't a definitive test. Maybe he thinks it's vascular dementia, but then why didn't he tell you that?

Since there are medications they use now in the early years, I think it would be worth it to take her to a specialist and get a better informed opinion.

Not everyone is like this, and I'm wondering if when he says dementia, he means what he think he means, or if he's using it as a catch all term. There's just a lot I don't know, especially since I'm hearing about it secondhand.

is common, and the older people get, the more likely they are to develop it, from one cause or another. So maybe this doctor isn't taking this seriously enough because he sees so much of it.

Unfortunately, saying someone has a little "dementia" is a bit like saying they have a "virus." Not all that helpful.

I'm hoping what your mother had was temporary delirium in connection with the seizure. If that's what it was, then she may or may not also have the beginnings of dementia.

Also, you should always rule out medical causes when there are sudden changes in a senior's cognitive status. Sometimes something as simple as a urinary tract infection or a sinus infection can cause symptoms of dementia, and once they're cured, the elderly person is back to normal. And this can happen to an elderly person with real dementia, too -- a person with Alzheimers can suddenly seem to deteriorate, and then it turns out they have an infection that's made everything worse.

which they believe was exacerbated by the flu. They think the delirium was a reaction to Tamiflu. She had no UTI or anything else that they could find. She had a temporary ischemic attack two years ago. She smoked for 50 years, has quit in the last few months and made it stick. Her only medications are for blood pressure, cholesterol, and an antidepressant. She had a few incidents of erratic behavior in the week before her seizure-couldn't balance her checkbook, a couple of other things, but that could have been a result of the low sodium-it apparently had been occurring for a while, and the flu tipped it over the edge. Since then, she's been fine (as best I can tell.) So I really don't know what to think at this point. On the one hand, the Dr doesn't know her as well as I do. On the other hand, maybe I know her too well and am not impartial enough. I just don't know.

not that much younger than your mother, I would say:

1) Don't try to figure out what the doctor meant without talking to the doctor. If you are concerned about it, go with her/them to the next appointment and the next one after that. If you can't do that, call the doctor, who may or may not be willing to talk to you.

2) Do talk with your mother and find out what she thinks is going on. If it's actually dementia, you may not have that much more time to have this kind of talk with her. But at this point I wouldn't start from the assumption that it's dementia.

3) Try as much as you can to relate to your mother at this point just as she is. Don't get panicked by what you have heard from your father and about which he may also be panicked.

4) Remember that you (and all of us) are on a moving current. What's happening now is not what will be happening later. Have as many direct conversations and ask as many direct questions as you possibly can now, and at all future moments.