Thank you everyone! I may have been too hasty with my description of my mother. She is still active and drives and everything, it’s just that she doesn’t seem to have quite the mental command of other people her age. The only medication she is on is hormone replacement therapy.
Anyway, I can’t believe I never thought of asking a doctor. My uncle is a doctor (general practitioner). As soon as I can get ahold of him, I’ll call him and consult him this week. He saw my mom recently last month, though he never saw her for any length of time. I’ll let everyone know how it goes.
The woman was 54 and the stated cause of death was dementia. The physician who made the diagnosis and signed the cert is my own doctor, an experienced, careful practioner. The decedent was not homeless. Far from it - death certificates in our state list the home address and this woman lived in a good neighborhood in our town, and she died in an expensive nursing home.
Is she going through menopause? (It sounds like she probably already has since she is on HRT.) I know when my hormones got wonky when I was pregnant I was spacey a lot, maybe her hormones are just adjusting.
As others have said, many things could cause it and a Dr. is a good idea. But it does sound like she is a little bored or lonely. Does she have a hobby? Even knitting or crafts can help sharpen the mind and give her a sense of accomplishement. If she can knit, she can make blankets or hats to donate to shelters or hospitals. Something to get her thinking about the outside world a little more. Or maybe a little pet? We got my grandmother a bird and she doted on it for a while. Of course, these are all things to think about after she rules out physical problems, but even if she does have dementia she can take up something like that.
Yes, but that wasn’t the cause of death. That’s like saying someone took LSD and jumped off a roof and they put the cause of death on the death certificate as LSD.
They’d probably put
A. Subdural hematoma
Due to, or as a consequence of:
B. Blunt force head trauma
Due to, or as a consequence of:
C. Fall from height due to LSD ingestion
or Fall precipitated by dementia
See what I’m saying? I can see them putting dementia on the death certificate but that’s not what she died from. Maybe she had aids/committed suicide?
Yeah, I see what you’re saying. For the record, dementia and Alzheimer’s appear as cause of death on certs not infrequently in my state. Custom and practice may be different where you live. I am not repeating secondhand friend-of-a-friend gossip about some woman who supposedly died of premature senility. What I’m reporting, having read the death certificate which I held in my hand, is that the woman was 54 and the doctor wrote “Cause of Death: Dementia.”
Caridewen, why do you have the impression that dementia in itself is not fatal? It most certainly can be! The patient loses more and more functionality, becomes generally inatiated, and dies. Even the finest nursing care which manages to keep infections and trauma from falls, etc., away cannot keep a patient with progressive dementia alive indefinitely.
I see. Maybe it does vary place to place, I’m not an expert. It’s horrible regardless and would probably serve no purpose to anyone to add anything further. How awful for her poor family.