Hi Scarlett

Thanks for telling us your story. I'm sorry you are so troubled, yet I understand why of course.

You ask the impossible I'm afraid when you ask

Nobody on TP is an expert in mental health.

I would say however, that in the people I have encountered who have a dementia, none has - to my knowledge - had mental illness or personality problems.

Since it seems never clear to me who may be susceptible to getting dementia at some stage, I always recommend living for each day. There are so many things that can happen to individuals in the course of their lives that to worry about any or all of them is to detract from quality of life now.

I know that is all easy to say, harder to do, but in reality for all of us, there isn't really much choice.

Take care

 

Hi Scarlett

My situation is very similar to yours.

My mother has had mental health problems all her life. She was then diagnosed with dementia aged 57. Her previous mental health problems have nothing to do with getting dementia - it is just bad luck.

Her mother also had dementia, diagnosed in her late 70s, and died aged 85. My mum's neurologist told us that there is no connection between my mother's dementia and my grandmother's. It is possible for dementia to be genetic, but this is almost always when people get it at a younger age (under 65). So the fact my grandmother also had dementia was just one of those things, as it is quite common at that age (about 1 in 6 people over 80).

So what I am saying is, as I understand it, your mother would not have inherited dementia from your grandmother, as your grandmother did not have young onset. Which means you can't inherit it from your mother. However, if your mother's father also had young onset dementia, she could have inherited it from him. My mum's father died young, so it is possible that he could have had the gene, and died before he developed it. We'll never know.

Has your mum been seen by a neurologist?

I suggest reading the info sheet on genetics: http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Facts_about_dementia/Genetics/info_genetics.htm

Also you can read how to lower your chance of developing dementia. Everyone should make these life style changes whatever their family history:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Facts_about_dementia/Risk_factors/info_amIatrisk.htm

 

i worried about this a lot a while ago. My mum was diagnosed in her mid fifties. None of my grandparents have had Alzheimer's but none of us know one of my biological grandfathers so who knows?
Apparently there is one form of early onset AD that is genetic - but it's very very rare - if your parent does have it there's a 50/50 chance you might get it. But it's highly unlikely that your parent would have that. You can be tested to see if you have that gene.
If your relatives have had AD then the odds that you might get it increase - but as far as i can tell different things can trigger it - and even if you have genes which mean you are more likely to get it than others - you may never trigger it - so never get it.
Diet, exercise etc all seem to make a difference.
So it's not all bad news really.
The link with other mental illness is something i know nothing about. My mum wasn't mentally ill - although she suffered from depression at times.
I hope this info helps. Sorry it's a bit waffley
Kate