To think that Dementia/Alzheimers is a woman's disease.

[Elendon]

Two thirds of those who die from the disease are women. This is an awful statistic. I'm shocked.

www.alzheimers.org.uk/statistics

It costs billions of pounds per year to the NHS and the Carer system. Note: my aunt has alzheimers. Why are women so adversely affected? Surely this has to be corrected as a matter of urgency!

[crashdoll]

There are medications and strategies to manage dementia. It is incredibly important to be diagnosed early.

I'm not sure why you are getting so arsey, OP.

[PurpleDaisies]

Just do one!

Im not sure anyone's said that to me since I was about ten.

If you are genuinely concerned about your memory you should talk to your GP.

[booklooker]

I don't know why you are getting so arsey either.

Your more recent post do not support your original post at all. You just seem to be upset that others are not agreeing with you.

This is quite a common issue within AIBU.

(And are you equally upset that 'successful' male suicides are so much more prevalent that female suicides?)

[hatgirl]

Well that escalated...

[QuintessentialShadow]

I get you are scared OP.

Can you still tell them time from a conventional clock? You know, not a digital display clock, but a round one?

The concept of time is one of the first to become blurred.

[crashdoll]

Quint That isn't strictly correct. There are a significant number of different types of dementia and they present very differently. Saying "Mrs Jones has dementia" is as helpful, both in terms of medical and social care, as saying she has "cancer" without stating the type and stage.

[crashdoll]

Just FYI Elendon, one of the main causes of memory loss in the under 65s is anxiety. Physical health can also play a role.

[Mel0Drama]

My poor Grandad wouldn't agree 😞

[QuintessentialShadow]

Crashdoll I know, it is not the only "sign", but it is one of the many early signs of dementia, and is frequently used during cognitive testing.

Another cause of memory loss could also be Vitamin D deficiency.

[BadKnee]

I read the BBC piece today too. My mum has had dementia for about five or six years now. I do most of the caring but it is hard. Really hard for her and for me.

I have researched too. I agree that women live longer so by dint of not dying from something else are likely to suffer from dementia.

One of the things that I noted was that according to the Alzheimers Society sleep seems to be a factor in the development of the disease - see link.
www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z33m4j6#zygpwxs

This made me think. My mother has never been a good sleeper. My sleep has been disrupted since the children were born. Even now I have a difficult teen who stays up half the night. I would guess that disrupted sleep affects women for far longer and far more seriously than it does men.

An interesting thread OP.

[Helenluvsrob]

Meh. It's a disease if the very old. Very few men make it to " very old" .... especially as if you are about 90 now you would have been prime ww2 cannon fodder quite apart from the pathologies that polish off men faster than women.

[BadKnee]

PurpleDaisies - I think I've come across you before on another thread about caring. You were really supportive to me. (I was under another name). And you were caring for someone too.

Dementia is a very wide term for a disease that manifests itself in a number of different ways. And I have to disagree with the OP when she said that people with the illness should be left to die from something else.

You might as well say that of anybody. People can live for ten years and for much of that time be happy and enjoy life.

It is an illness that we need to research into more though

[BadKnee]

Oh and it is disease that can affect you from 50 onwards.

[MissMargie]

How do people die of dementia. I though people who had dementia actually died of something else such as an infection / cancer etc

Can dementia so affect the brain that it stops functioning eg the autonomic nervous system stops telling you to breath, or whatever?

[prettybird]

I suppose it depends on how you define it.

Dementia does stop the brain functioning and depending on the type, will gradually stop basic functions. My mum, although she continued to remember us (because that part of her brain wasn't affected) gradually lost the ability to walk (she couldn't balance), control over her basic functions, talking was a struggle - and even swallowing was difficult. She stopped eating. Effectively her body shut down - and she didn't have the will or desire to keep it going.

No idea what was put on her death certificate but essentially her cause of death was the head injury that triggered the dementia (the healing process didn't stop and instead became destructive ). She was one of the unlucky few in which this happens.

The tiny bit of good that came from it is that she will have contributed to the research that hopes to address injury-induced dementias (which might also help with some of the other forms).

[QuintessentialShadow]

My mum is now having trouble swallowing. It means she is not getting her cancer medication properly (her bone marrow cancer has been kept in check since 1992), and they are looking for different meds that is administered differently. She is 82, and the decline has been slower the last few years. The ability to chew and slow seem to be declining fast now.

The new cancer meds will give different side effects that she will be unable to communicate as she is no longer verbal, and may not be viable. We will have to decide whether to continue or stop medicating her.

If the OP was me, and in my shoes, she would probably just say "to hell with it, mum is old, has cancer and dementia, lets stop the meds, lets stop being a burden on society." But it is not that simple.
Stopping her medication, which are keeping her white blood platelets on an even 600 (400 should be ideal) will cause the levels to rise (we tried two weeks off medication to see what happened, and the levels rose to 1300, and mum has burst blood vessels throughout her face and struggles to keep awake). Two things may happen if the levels rise. Her blood will either thicken and clot, causing blood clots and possibly stroke. Alternatively her blood may become really thin and cause a brain hemorrhage, and possibly stroke. It may not kill her, just make her more disabled and in need of more care.