Older husband - early onset of something worrying? Or not?

[Earlyonsetofsomething]

My husband is 11 years older than me and is now in his midfifties.

The trouble is he forgets things. I mean freakishly odd things. Not forgetting his carkeys (which he does all the time btw) but things that are unforgettable, like things we have done or places we have been to.

For example, today I asked in the course of a conversation about holidays, "Do you remember the restaurant in Boston?". DH has only been to Boston once in his life, with me, about 15 years ago, and we found this place we loved and ate there a LOT of the time. Not only could he not remember the restaurant but he could not remember going to Boston.

His family have all without exception suffered from senile dementia. None of my family have suffered from this condition and most of them are pretty long-lived so it is something I have no experience of and am frightened about.

So do I broach this? If so how? Do I get him to go to the doctors? WWYD?

Sorry this is happening. Is there any way you can talk with his dr about this?

I bet there is a helpline if you google Alzheimer's. Perhaps talking to someone who knows a bit about this might help?

i have no idea so may talk rubbish but i understood that alzeimers tended to be signified by loss of short term memory and a retreat to long term memory

I am not a pro on this subject either but agree with Zippi - it is the short term memory that usually goes in Alzheimer's disease, although it is often also the names of things and people in early-onset AD.

this link might be of some assistance to you.

But I think if you are really worried about him then go to the doctor's.

My PIL can remember with much clarity everything like holidays and primary school etc. but ask 6 times if you want a coffee.

My dh can't remember anything in the past - is notoriously useless at it and always has been. It drives his parents as nuts as being asked 6 times about coffee drives him. However he can remember with total clarity what having a newborn was like and will never repeat the experience - so I think it's selective memory!

I noticed that when I lost my job and was at home all day that more memories came back to me about holidays which I took when very tired and stressed and thus instantly forgot about.

if you are worried about broaching the subject with yor DH, go to your own GP and talk to him/her about your fears first - they should be able to give you more of a clue as to whether it sounds serious.

Yes, with Alzheimer's, it is usually short-term memory that goes first (so while someone might not know who their spouse is, they can tell you in amazing detail how to do the 4 mile walk they did 50 yrs ago to get to school every day) but if you talk to someone who knows about dementia, they may be able to help or tell you what to look for. There are different types of dementia.