Pca

[Lucyc]

My husband was diagnosed 6 years ago with Alzhiemers. He started not seeing what was in front of him over the past 6 months. Like his food or his plate or a cup of tea placed in front of him. He is unsteady on his feet and cannot judge distance. He also has a preference from his right side. When I ask his to hold something with both hands hand he only offers his right hand up.

a couple of months ago he had a little stroke, which seems to have added to his problems.

I have read a little about Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA)

Does anyone know how I can find out if he has PCA.

 

[canary]

The only way is to ask the person who diagnosed his Alzheimers if it might be PCA.

I will say, however, that difficulty judging distances is a symptom of Alzheimers as is being unsteady on their feet. Often a patterned surface is misinterpreted as an uneven surface which makes them unsteady. Did his difficulty with not seeing things start after his stroke? A stroke can often affect the sight causing them to lose part of the vision.

 

[Rich PCA Carer]

PCA is most often a variant form of Alzheimer's that has more visual and spatial symptoms than typical Alzheimer's, in which memory and executive functions are the primary symptoms. In reality there is a spectrum of possibilities between the two. PCA is typically only diagnosed where there is a marked emphasis in visual and spatial symptoms with relatively little memory or executive function impact. PCA is also more typically early onset with diagnosis usually in a person's 50s or 60s if not earlier.

The neglect of his left side is a symptom that can occur with PCA but not always. The stroke complicates matters and might be the cause of some symptoms that have appeared since.

The real question is whether it is worth pursuing a diagnosis of PCA which would involve more testing that might be distressing, depending on your husband's attitude to such things. There is no different treatment and care needs are always dictated by the impacts, which are highly personal so it will be essential that all care and health workers are made aware of the visual and spatial symptoms.

Please keep posting and ask any questions. There are specific support groups for PCA but they may be some distance from you.