Is this the start of dementia ?

[Zakinthos]

My 90 year old mother lives on her own and I have noticed that her short term memory has been deteriorating noticeably over the last few months. I will answer a question she asks me and then 3 secs later she will ask the same thing again. Her memory has always been so good before. And then last week she was at tesco's and went to call a taxi but couldn't remember where she lived. It took her about 15 mins to recall her address with help from tesco's staff. I don 't want to stop her going to tesco's as this is the only thing she does on her own each week. Is this a sign of things to come?

Being that she is 90 I would say she is doing very well to still be living on her own. It's not so much dementia as really, really old age. Might be worth suggesting that you do the shop with her from now on so she doesnt get confused or even organise internet shopping (although I imagine she likes getting out of the house). The repeating questions thing is again an effect of old age, that yes you could call dementia but frankly what difference would it make?
So yes this is a sign of things to come but she has done very very well to get to 90 before being any cause for concern - fingers crossed for my mum and dad!

Its worth getting her GP to check her out, as sudden onset of memory loss/confusion can be due to urine infections or other physical things in the elderly.

If Tescos always use the same taxi company, perhaps you could give the company a call and see if they can keep a record of her name and address so they always know where to take her ? Also a card in her purse with her address and your number so that people can contact you if needed might be reassuring

Good advice from dibbler .
I'd also add - dehydration ,not drinking enough . Old people react very badly to not enough fluid , vague and confused ( or in my mothers case extremley grumpy ! ).
Is it possible ,since she had a majoe lapse while at Tescos that she'd held off the fluids ( wont have my usual second cup of tea because I'm leaving the house and dont want hassle of finding a loo/wetting myself ) and was a bit dehydrated .
Think I'd reassure her ,encourage her to keep going ,stress how manageable it is - card with address ,Tescos have loos ,etc .
Good luck .

Thanks guys. She has had a full annual check at her gp recently. Slightly higher glucose levels but nothing they are overly concerned about. We have her address in her handbag but good idea about letting taxi co know. I have asked her a few times if she wants me to organise an Internet shop weekly for her but she is reluctant to give up her last bit of independence. It could well be dehydration. I am always telling her to drink more. She 'leaks' a bit and has to wear tena pads. She has been ok this week in terms of memory so hopefully just a one off lapse!

Glad to hear that GP checks came back ok .
And good for her that she's keen to keep going out .
( my mum ,in her 90s ,goes out sometimes and my heart is always in my mouth . She lives in what would be considered a very dangerous inner London area but her chief problem is that she's too breathless to answer the continual offers of help from people when she's out .)

With the fluid intake - do everything you can .
Explain that as you get older you loose the thirst response and that this age group are really affected by reduced levels .
They might need to think of drinking as taking medicine .
My mum has small bottles with those sports caps next to her bed and where she sits . I refill every day ,though more lavish people could have a supply .
And I'm told that tea is fine for rehydration - apparently it's diueritic properties are negligible.

Thanks ginger, she does have 2-3 cups of tea a day plus 1 glass of orange juice but little else. The sports bottle's a good idea - will get her one!

Well 90 is a good age and she seems to have managed very well so far. It might have been a one off if she was a bit harassed or something that particular day. And as for asking the same question twice. Well I don't think that is so serious. I think the not recognising people is the worst thing. I think there is a list of questions somewhere that medical people ask to test if there is confusion or memory loss. One of them is Who is the Prime Minister. And if the GP checks came back oK I wouldn't have thought there was too much to worry about at the present time.