Has anyone ever heard/read of cases when Alzheimer's is caused by extreme physical abuse? I'm curious because both my mother and grandmother are suffering from the disease at the same time. Onset was almost exactly same time! My mother is early-onset & their symptoms are nearly identical. Mom's neurologist commented he was baffled by her symptoms, some similar to Alz and some similar to Parkinson's but neither have the 'tale tale' signs of either?? Her walking is terrible, like her brain can't tell her feet what to do. Now she only stands and turns to get on potty or in wheelchair, never really walks. There are no other family members who've had Alz, and my mother and grandmother endured severe physical abuse by the hands of my grandfather when she was young. Once before she started school, he beat her so bad that she slept for 10 days! I hear of athletes with Alz and Parkinson's caused by concussion and hits to head and makes me wonder. Basically from time of abuse, x number of years later, they both are suffering from this although there is a 20yr age difference!!! I haven't been able to bring this up in front of my mother to a doctor, and I have not been able to find much online to call dr and discuss when she's not in front of me. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
I suggest that you do write a note to the doctors giving this piece of medical history.
Has your mother's neurologist discussed Lewy Body Dementia with you at all?
One other thing, they both did terrible on Aricept. It made both of them begin to decline rapidly & once they stopped taking it, they both leveled off & the decline continued but not as quickly.
For what it's worth, the issue of having to urinate every 15 minutes is fairly common in dementia patients. My mother had the same problem . There was another patient in the same area of her nursing home with the same problem also. The nurse's aids were taking them back and forth to the toilet constantly. Mom was repeatedly tested for UTI, and taken to a urologist, and there was no physical cause. It was miserable for her, and everyone else, as this problem was never resolved.
Now this is pure wild speculation, but with them developing this deterioration in their mental functioning simultaneously, I wonder if they were living together. If possibly there was some other possible external cause that might have affected them both. Lead poisoning is what came to my mind.
Are there visual hallucinations? Are there sleep disturbances? Do these women act out their dreams sometimes (while alseep)? Are there problems with depth perception? Do some of the symptoms come and go -- almost normal some days and very impaired another day?
Your story is interesting. Please share with us anything else you learn.