VASCULAR DEMENTIA IN THE ELDERLY: What Is This and What Do You Do With It?

According to Johns Hopkins Health Alerts special report Guide to Understanding Dementia, in normal age-related forgetfulness a person "sometimes misplaces" items.  Those with dementia "forget what an item is used for".

October 2000   We as an extended family made some adjustments.  Everyone knew that we needed to check on Mother more often.  My brother, who lived just across the country road from her, was often at her home daily.   We felt we had the pulse of the situation, but my sisters started coming from Dallas about every two weeks or more often if needed.  I lived about 8 hours away, so came as often as I could.

On a visit that month, I noticed that there was an odd smell when I was near Mother, and I thought it was coming from her hair.  Her hair looked clean, though, and because I spent several days at a time with her, I was aware of her hygiene habits, and I noted that she was still taking regular showers every morning.  Not wanting to offend her, I came up with a plan.  I offered to help her wash and set her hair, hoping that this would allow me to find the source of the offending odor.  When we got ready to wash her hair, I told Mother to bring the shampoo to the sink.  She arrived, handed me the bottle, and the issue was solved.  She handed me a bottle of conditioner, and on checking, that was all she had in the shower where she usually washed her hair.  It wasn't her eyesight.  Her vision at that time was still pretty good.  We replaced the conditioner with shampoo and that particular problem was solved.  Ten more problems took its place in the next six months, but for the time being we were handling one problem at a time.

DEMENTIA HINT:  Assist your loved one by simplifying the number of items they use for each activity of daily living and placing the items where they are easily accessible in the area where that activity takes place.