Private brain scan today

[karaokePete]

I have a memory of reading that some 40 - 50% of people diagnosed with MCI go on the develop dementia.

My wife was diagnosed with MCI before progressing to a diagnosis of dementia but her score was lower than your mum's.

 

[karaokePete]

This Society Factsheet will give you some information, assuming you haven't seen it already. Just click the second line of the link to read and/or print it.
What is mild cognitive impairment (MCI)? (470)
PDF printable version

 

[El31]

Thanks Pete,
My mum is an ususual case maybe , I’m not sure. For the past 4 years she has changed dramatically, her memory is still very much there but it’s her behaviours that are odd, repeats herself constantly, walks off on her own and still repeats same thing ‘I’m going for a bath, I’m going for a bath x10, table manners are awful, starts eating before anyone else sits down, licks serving spoons and puts back in bowl, eats with her hands at times, washes up without washing up liquid or cloth so food still thick on plates , naps more throughout the day, very routiney, fixates on things , and most of all she is so vague.. you will be talking to her and she will just talk about something completely unrelated. Def something going on but memory is there

 

[canary]

Not all dementias have problems with the memory, at least to start with.
Fronto Temporal Dementia (FTD), for example, does not have problems with the memory until the disease is quite advanced. https://www.theaftd.org/what-is-ftd/behavioral-variant-ftd-bvftd/

Unfortunately, most doctors rely on tests that look predominantly at memory problems in order to diagnose dementia, so if the memory is intact, they dont consider dementia.

 

[Sirena]

I don't have huge faith in the accuracy of the diagnostic process. My mother was seen by a psychiatric nurse at the memory clinic who gave the tests and said she thought she had early stage dementia and referred her to the consultant. But the consultant decided she didn't have dementia, just MCI or as he put it "normal age related memory loss". About 9 months later my mother was back at the memory clinic and diagnosed (by a different doctor) with moderate dementia. She has Alzheimers and her symptoms were fairly evident as she lost language and comprehension skills early in the process.

In a way, it doesn't matter what the diagnosis the doctor gave, because you can see the behaviours for yourself. But it is frustrating and worrying when you get conflicting stories and have no idea which is right (if either).

 

[SaraKate]

My husband has been diagnosed with small vessel disease, they saw it on the scan. We've not seen the neurologist yet for an explanation but I will tell you what he says when we do (next week). From googling it seems that it is the deterioration of the white matter which carries signals around the brain. How it affects the patient depends on the area where it occurs. How it proceeds differs from one person to another. It's not predictible, but it is progressive. That's one of the things I'm going to be asking about but I dont expect a clear prognosis. My husband is clearly moody has tremor and fatigue and struggles with words and remembering things. He's anxious about anything out of the routine. It's miserable. It really is.

 

[SaraKate]

Hello everyone - just checking in as I promised I would to speak of the results of my husband's scan and appointment. The scan showed mild chronic white vessel impairment so we were expecting bad news from the neurologist but he says it is 'nothing worse than average for age and that the symptoms, are probably stress related. Sent us away with instructions to relax. Of course we had a time of complete relief and elation and I think I'll try and stay with that for now. Of course, I think that he didnt understand the severity of the amnesia moments, or the really dreadful moods. How we will manage these when they are not part of an emergency approach but are simply daily life with someone who is occasionally forgetful, often dismissive, irritable and moody we'll have to see. I'm making myself not run to conclusions and solutions. But it is true that I thought he was so out of sorts that I thought he had early onset dementia. So the news that this is just old age is not simply good news. Anyway - I promised I would tell you our results and they are 'good'. Obviously I am thankful that we are not facing what people on this site have to cope with, so courageously, every day. But it does leave us with a marriage rather dented and no external explanation.
Thanks to all of you who have supported me so kindly through this hard time of waiting for a diagnosis. I know this is a wonderful outcome and I am deep-down glad. It's just on top I'm going - so now what?