Monday, January 21, 2008
Demons or Dementia as it relates to Alzheimers
My mother is in her early 70's and has started forgetting how to do normal everyday things. She will seem normal for several days, then suddenly begins to slurs her words, shuffle her feet, lose her balance and can't remember what she is doing, or even trying to say. When she is confused, she becomes very angry. Mom was diagnosed with pernicious anemia when she was in her thirties and has taken B-12 injections twice each week ever since then. Is there a relationship between this type of anemia and Alzheimer's?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I used to work in the medical field, and your story drew me into some research. I found two sites that have information on vitamin and nutrition-related syndromes. http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/NEUROMUSCULAR/nother/vitamin.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_vitamins
I hope that the information is valuable to you. I have a close friend whose mother has developed dementia, leading to Alzheimer's, within the last 5 years or so. It's really tough for the entire family. However, the memories and stories that they are able to recollect bring lots of smiles and laughter.
There's tons of information out there. I hope that you find what you need.
Thank you very much! We (my family) really appreciate any information. You're right, it is very difficult for our family. Some days she is fine and we all live in denial. It gives us hope on those days. We hope to find a way for her to have more good days. Lately they are very few and far between.
Well, my mom is now taking Razadyne, a medicine used to treat Alheimers. Her Dr. has not actually said she has Alzheimers, but ordered her the medicine to see if it would help. She seems to remember things better and is not falling all of the time. I looked it up on the web and read that it may only be useful for 6 approximately months. Hopefully, that will buy us more time. We are trying to get her into a neurologist to see if there is a chance that she has Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). Apparently, it has the exact same symptoms, but is not a form of dementia. Has anyone ever heard of it?
You pose a very good question. I hope that they will soon find a cure for Alzheimer's! There are too many good people in the world that have this horrible disease! I am sorry for what your family is going through right now. I know that you have high hopes and keep them up!
Thanks Jennifer. We are trying to find suggestions from people who are going through the same thing. I know that survivors and caregivers of certain diseases are full of information. I found a lot of information about using huperzia (health store item) for memory. My dad just bought some for her, so we don't know if it will help, but we are hopeful!
NPH is Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. It's not a very well know medical condition that takes a specialist to diagnose. Some people think it's just old age and others are diagnosed with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. It is actually a condition where cerebrospinal fluid collects in the brain. It is a treatable condition and may be reversible if caught in time. It is diagnosed with an MRI or PET scan. Anyone interested can get more info on the NPH website.
www.lifenph.com
Post a Comment