My 58 year old mother has frontal lobe dementia (pick's disease). It is possible that it is genetic. her mother also had dementia, it was never properly diagnosed (it was called senile dementia, with no further explanation). It is very likely that what my grandmother had was not the same as my mum; she lived until she was 85 which is highly unusual for someone with Pick's, and she had a number of strokes, which suggests vascular dementia. therefore It seems it is probably just a coincidence that my mother and granmother have/had dementia.
But of course, I worry that it is genetic, and that I will get it to. My mum's sisters are both older than her, and so no signs, so it is highly unlikley that they will develop it, or they would have showed some signs by now, as Pick's tends to develop in your 50's or 60's. The way they have talked to me about my risk of getting it has been so incredibly tactless. One aunt said to me "it could be you next". The both keep telling me that many members of our family had dementia. (my mum's family emigrated to the UK so I didn't meet any of my great aunts etc). Today one aunt told me that my mum's cousin "definitely died of dementia in his early 60s". This really bloody scared me, because if he had dementia in his 60s and died of it in his 60s, then it could very well have been Pick's, as the age range would make sense. So I looked up on a family tree that another family member gave me, and it says there he died at 75! That is a big difference! In the country he lived in that is a normal age for a man to die, and it makes it much less likely that it he had Pick's.
So I asked the other aunt about that counsin's parents. She said that my great aunt "definitely had dementia". I probed her a bit, and she said my great aunt had "nervous problems" all her life, and "lost her mind". She was 76 when she died, and being born in 1901 and living in the country she lived in, again that was a normal age. So again highly unlikely it was Pick's. It seems to me both my aunts seem to describe any mental health problems as dementia. My aunt said my great aunt had dementia, yet then said she had it all her life, which doesn't make any sense.
ooohhhh, I am so fed up of them stirring and exaggerating. I don't understand why they can't see that are upsetting me. Sorry to go on!
But of course, I worry that it is genetic, and that I will get it to. My mum's sisters are both older than her, and so no signs, so it is highly unlikley that they will develop it, or they would have showed some signs by now, as Pick's tends to develop in your 50's or 60's. The way they have talked to me about my risk of getting it has been so incredibly tactless. One aunt said to me "it could be you next". The both keep telling me that many members of our family had dementia. (my mum's family emigrated to the UK so I didn't meet any of my great aunts etc). Today one aunt told me that my mum's cousin "definitely died of dementia in his early 60s". This really bloody scared me, because if he had dementia in his 60s and died of it in his 60s, then it could very well have been Pick's, as the age range would make sense. So I looked up on a family tree that another family member gave me, and it says there he died at 75! That is a big difference! In the country he lived in that is a normal age for a man to die, and it makes it much less likely that it he had Pick's.
So I asked the other aunt about that counsin's parents. She said that my great aunt "definitely had dementia". I probed her a bit, and she said my great aunt had "nervous problems" all her life, and "lost her mind". She was 76 when she died, and being born in 1901 and living in the country she lived in, again that was a normal age. So again highly unlikely it was Pick's. It seems to me both my aunts seem to describe any mental health problems as dementia. My aunt said my great aunt had dementia, yet then said she had it all her life, which doesn't make any sense.
ooohhhh, I am so fed up of them stirring and exaggerating. I don't understand why they can't see that are upsetting me. Sorry to go on!