My Father is 70 and over the last 2 years his memory has got worse - he says that he often can't remember what was said in a conversation a few minutes previously. Other people. say they wouldn't know he had a problem. My Mother did tell me the other day however that on a trip to town she had arranged to meet back at the shop where she left him but on returning she couldn't find him and after looking for nearly an hour she went home and found him there which was rather worrying.
He is assessed every so many months by people from a local NHS 'Memory Clinic' and he was prescribed Aricept, which he has been taking for several months now.
What i would like to know is whether the fact that he's been prescribed Aricept categorically means that he has some form of dementia or Alzheimer's or whether Aricept is prescribed for general memory problems also? How bad does the memory have to be before Aricept is prescribed?
Really I want to know what is likely to happen in the long run. I've asked my Mother what the people from the Memory Clinic have given as the diagnosis but she is very vague about it, which could either mean that they don't yet know or that she's hiding something from me.
She doesn't generally like to talk about the subject but I feel we need to be aware of all the facts and prepare for a possible worsening of my Father's condition.
I would like advice regarding how seriously we should be taking this situation and what we ought to be doing, if anything, in the meantime.
Nessa
He is assessed every so many months by people from a local NHS 'Memory Clinic' and he was prescribed Aricept, which he has been taking for several months now.
What i would like to know is whether the fact that he's been prescribed Aricept categorically means that he has some form of dementia or Alzheimer's or whether Aricept is prescribed for general memory problems also? How bad does the memory have to be before Aricept is prescribed?
Really I want to know what is likely to happen in the long run. I've asked my Mother what the people from the Memory Clinic have given as the diagnosis but she is very vague about it, which could either mean that they don't yet know or that she's hiding something from me.
She doesn't generally like to talk about the subject but I feel we need to be aware of all the facts and prepare for a possible worsening of my Father's condition.
I would like advice regarding how seriously we should be taking this situation and what we ought to be doing, if anything, in the meantime.
Nessa