What If it Isn't Alzheimer's?

You do know, don't you, that the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is merely a default diagnosis. When a list of other things have been looked for and not found, then the diagnosis is "a dementia of the Alzheimer's type." A number of doctors might express this as "Your mother has Alzheimer's," and you might think that the statement was a more sureone than " a dementia of the Alzheimer's type" but no. not so. That was just laziness.

There is as yet no discovered confirmation for Alzheimer's. When there is, then you and I won't even be having this conversation. Why should you care what I think, since I'm not even a doctor? As a longtime caregiver, I know the limitations of the Alzheimer's diagnosis. Being willing to pay attention and speak up as a caregiver is very important.

Since elders tend to be all lumped together as "old", health issues might be ignored or misidentified. For example, the diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus or NPH was even recently hardly ever spoken of. Now doctors are finding that a significant number of elders thought to have Alzheimer's turn out to have NPH. This is a condition where fluid pressure increases in the brain.

Often, this problem may first manifest as a change in walking gait or balance, with apparent dementia only coming second. That's something to look out for, since Alzheimer's type dementias do not typically appear first as a walking or balance issue. When accumulating brain pressure is relieved, both walking issues and dementia issues may improve markedly.

A caregiver noticing walking issues might usefully bring it to a doctor's attention. If that doctor dismisses it without investigation, I'd be dismissing that doctor. If an Alzheimer's work-up is being done, I'd definitely insist on the brain pressure test if gait issues have appeared.

What else might a practiced caregiver look for as non-typical Alzheimer's behaviors? Well here's a list of questionable indicators that need further investigation.

Non-Typical Alzheimer's Behaviors:

1. Night terrors or night-long agitation. These might indicate a PTSD condition needing medication, often found in war veterans or women molested as children;

2. Rage frenzies, more indicative of mental health issues than dementia;

3. Planning and acting out violence, absolutely not intrinsic to Alzheimer's because dementia can't plan and carry out actions. Mental health assessment needed;

4. The presence of accurate short-term memory is a sure sign that this NOT dementia;

5. Very different behaviors in the daytime and in the night-time have always turned out in my experience to be indicators of some kind of mental health issues. So, quiet and meek in daytime, raging, loud and over-active at night, indicates mental health issue assessment needed.

Always ask for more medical referrals. Always read and learn and trust your own intuition. If you think something else is going on, other than dementia, you're probably right. You don't have know what it is. You just have to ask for more investigation. Alas, in our present society, which has little respect for elders and none for dementia, people, even medical people, sometimes are just too willing to throw everyone into the Alzheimer's basket.

This can mean dangerously mentally ill elders being mixed with elders with dementia. That's where injury and murder happens in elder care institutions. So, speak up. So, for your own sake and safety, speak up, ask for help and don't take no for an answer.