Suffer From Short Term Memory. Keeps Losing Things. What Can Be Done?

Posted on Thu, 22 Aug 2013

Question: My husbands short term memory is getting worse and in about 6 months has now reached a point where he loses things all the time and cannot remember how to fix things. He has a very short fuse with me when I try to help and am now wondering if I should tell the doctor to do some checks for dementia and see if anything can be dine !!! I have to do nearly everything now and am finding it quite hard to manage it all. I am 69 and he is 73. He had a very bad time with food poisoning some 3 years ago ( nearly died ) and has not been the same man since altho things are now speeding up some. Regards XXXXX

Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (2 hours later)

Hello
Thanks for using health care magic for posting your query.
I have gone through your account in detail and would like to know a few more details before I can comment.
1. What all does he forget
2. Does he also feel that he is forgetting
3. Are there any current medical issues
4. Does he ever fo4get his way back home or forgets whether he has had his food or not.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Dr. Srikanth Reddy MD

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Srikanth Reddy (8 hours later)

I have already told you of complaints but he fell from a boat in May on Norfolk Broads onto concrete and was taken to hospital overnight where he was checked for breaks There were none but he badly bruised hip and shoulder which he is still suffering shoulder problems. He still remembers to eat and he drives locally OK. He would not admit there was anything wrong so would be difficult without a row to see a doctor about it !!!! Is there a pacific test for dementia probabilities? I just need to know if anything can be done.

Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (1 hour later)

Hello,
Thanks for the add on information.
Yes, there is lot that you can do. First of all you need to visit a psychiatrist/neurologist who would like to clinically evaluate your husband to differentiate between dementia and pseudo dementia. If at all it is dementia then your husband should show significant fall in scores in the XXXXXXX Mental State Examination. If it is a dementia, then earlier you stat the therapy better are the results. As the weeks pass by, severity increases and the results are not that good.
Donepezil and Memantin and Rivastigmine are certain drugs which are good options. But you need to get the clinical evaluation done from a psychiatrist or a neurologist.
Hope I am able to answer your concerns.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy

Wish you good health,
Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar