Alzheimer's

[Deepi_xxx]

Hi all,

Without going into too much detail as yet..

Does anyone here know anyone, family or friends, who has / is suffering from Alzheimer's?

Does anyone have more knowledge about it?

Much appreciated.

Thanks

[Kharbuja]

yeah, i had a bit of experience of it, and as it's not family, it's a bit easier to look at it through objective eyes...what you wanna know?

[Jatt_Daniels]

Yeah a family member had dimentia at the worse stage, was difficult times.

[Deepi_xxx]

What have been the main indications of it?

What are the tests performed to determine Alzheimer's like?

I'm a little concerned about my naani, she's showing signs of what could be Alzheimer's but i don't want to jump to conclusions.

How am i going to convince her to go see a doctor?

[Jatt_Daniels]

Forgetting things, leaving the gas on regularly etc

Not sure how they determine it, I guess they refer you and carry out further tests?

Best to get her checked out now. If she does have it they can put her under medication, more you leave it the worse it gets.

Hardest part will be convincing her to get checked out. I guess you can say a friends grandparent has it and this is what is happening...similar to yourself.

[mcsquared]

It's worth bearing in mind that dementia is really common in people over the age of 65, more so over the age of 80 (about 1 in 6). Just because she's forgetting things from time to time, it doesn't mean it's full blown Alzheimer's, it may well just be natural changes in how her brain is processing things.

See your GP if you're concerned. I doubt even a doctor on barfi could diagnose it without seeing her. They normally do a blood test to rule out something else (confusion is quite a common symptoms for all sorts of conditions in the elderly) and an MRI scan to look for any abnormalities in the brain.

[de51_jut]

Hope she gets better Deepi

[Deepi_xxx]

Hi McSquared - I know it may not be Alzheimer's and i'm not assuming that it is. Just certain things have happened that have made me think, i know dementia is a common thing for those over the age 65, but it's something i want to get checked out and rule out completely.

I spoke to one of the doctors at work as well, and she also said that, obviously without doing the neccessary tests its not possible to determine whether or not it is Alzheimer's, but the symptoms i described to her did suggest it.

Thanks for the advice though guys, much appreciated.

Now i just gotta figure out a way to convince her to see a doc. It's not going to be an easy task.

[Deepi_xxx]

So.. I arranged for Naani to have some blood tests done, as i heard that if certain vitamins are lacking this can cause memory loss. She's had those and results came back all clear.

I got her to get a referral to see a specialist, and they're taking absolutely forever. My naani doesn't have private medical cover or anything so I can't take her private. NHS are just taking forever, in getting back to her with an appointment date.

Although my maamiji and maamaji have noticed some signs of improvement in her, i don't want to take any chances. Anything i can do to speed up the process of getting seen to?

[Jas]

ask jokerani, she might be able to assist you.

[Deepi_xxx]

You have a point there - My doctoraniii

[mcsquared]

Unfortunately it's just wait and see when it comes to NHS referrals, different departments vary in how organised they are.

The NHS do have an 18 week treatment pathway - meaning it should never take longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to the start of any treatment. The average waiting time is about 8 weeks.

I'd chase up your GP/hospital about the referral if you haven't heard about an appointment within 6 weeks.

[Deepi_xxx]

18 weeks??? WTF! I didn't realise it was that long.
Hell i'm ready to chase him up already. I don't think me or the rest of the family have the patience to wait 6 weeks either.

I phoned my naani yesterday, just to find out how she was, and she she totally forgot that I called her the day before too. This is starting to get worrying. Her short term memory seems to be deteriorating.

[mcsquared]

18 weeks isn't so bad compared with the two year waiting lists that used to exist in some parts. Give a little time for your gran's referral to be processed. You won't gain much chasing it up if it's not even got where it needs to. Once she's in the system, you could always call the hospital daily and ask if there have been any cancellations that they can slot her into. It's often difficult to fill last minute cancellations so you may get lucky.