Subtle Signs of Mother’s Dementia

We all need to be circumspect of subtle changes in personality, balance, judgment, memory and anything else uncharacteristic in our friends and family. Be Proactive and we can be less Reactive. By Elaine C. Pereira Alzheimer's Reading Room Falling The recent article on the Alzheimer’s Reading Room, Problems with Balance, Walking, Falling Can Be an Early Sign of Dementia, started me reflecting on a series of falls my mother experienced as well as other soft signs of her decline, or not so soft when she fell to the floor. At four feet, eleven inches, my mom was definitely petite and slender. She maintained her weight over the years and used an exercise bike or treadmill. Mom was an avid reader, a college graduate and had many other talents. She also had Ménière’s Disease, defined by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, as a disorder of the inner ear that causes severe dizziness (vertigo), ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and hearing loss. Despite debilitating vertigo-the sensation of movement when there isn’t any- from Ménière’s, Mom had never fallen because of it. Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room Email: Actually by the time Alzheimer’s was evident, Mom’s vertigo was dormant, a “burned out Ménière’s” as she referred to her disease. She remained stone deaf and still had the irritating tinnitus but it was unlikely that her increasingly frequent tumbles to the ground wer...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - Category: Dementia Authors: Source Type: blogs