VASCULAR DEMENTIA IN THE ELDERLY: Insidious Onset

Guide to Dementia published by Johns Hopkins Health Alerts comnpares factors of normal age-related forgetfulness and dementia.  In the former, a person "may forget an event from the distant past" while with dementia, the person "has serious impairment of short-term memory," and "has difficulty learning and remembering new information."

My mother was 31 when I was born in 1950, the fifth of six children.  Each year, once we had moved away from home, she faithfully called each adult child, and later, her grandchildren, on their birthdays.  In her best singing voice, she gave a splendid rendition of "Happy Birthday To You" via the phone.  If no one was home when she called, undeterred, she sang to the ubiquitous answering machines.
In June 2000, we had just moved to another city, where I was busy unpacking and getting settled.  My birthday came around, and even though it should have been one of the seminal birthdays, the 50th, I had little time to think about it.  It was several days afterward that I realized with a jolt that I had not heard from my mother. 
She had not called, nor had she left a message in song on the answering machine.  When I called to tease her, she didn't immediately realize what I was talking about.  Then she apologized profusely for forgetting my birthday. 
Unfortunately, others in the family would mention when we got together later in the year that she had also forgotten their birthdays.  It was one of the first symptoms of the dementia that would take more and more from her and from our family. 
She never remembered another birthday by calling and singing, though she did get a calendar and began to use it to record birthdays and other important dates, so she would sometimes remember to send a card. 
Dementia onset is usually between ages 60-75 ,  but our mother was 81 before her symptoms appeared.

DEMENTIA HINT:  If you note significant changes in functioning, even if they seem small, get a calendar and keep track so that you can note the frequency and severity of symptoms.


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