Can u tell me the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia?

she went to the doctor all the time, she has high blood pressure . its under control with meds. and no we didnt go to Neurologist . Her doctor never said anything like that to me. he did blood work . and done a memory test. and said she has dementia. but the last time we was at the doctors he said alzheimers. so that was why i asked what was the difference

Elaine, the past history of hallucination was hopefully followed up with a Neurologist who did blood work and brain imaging. "Never sick a day in her life" could mean she was hiding symptoms or not admitting to them. My SIL who claimed to be never sick a day in her life was just at the ER with extremely high blood pressure. Turned out she doesn't even have a primary MD, had not seen one in years.

she is only 78 and has never been sick a day in her life. she has never had any kind of surgery or ever been in the hospital only to have us kids. my mom sister and dad has passed away from alz. her dad was 98 and her sister was 79 . this just didnt come on, i have noticed it about 3 years ago .

My grandfather used to get like that and he had "senile dementia". They said it was from the normal aging process. It was not Alzheimer's, which results in your whole body shutting down. You could ask for her to get a full neurological work up. I would also be concerned about interactions or side effects of medications if she takes quite a few. Good luck.

she has been hallucination in the past , the doctor put her on meds for it , it helped, she is on risperdal 0.5 mg. 1 in morning 2 at night and aricept 5mg. 1 at bedtime .

elaine, dementia is a symptom that includes memory loss and loss of the ability to reason. Dementia is a key symptom in Alzheimer's and other brain diseases. Other types of dementia include vascular, lewy body, and metabolic dementia. There are others, but these are the ones people are most familiar with. What you described for your mother does sound like dementia, but a doctor would need to examine her to know for sure. Is your mother seeing a good geriatric doctor?

Pam, I've not heard of hallucinations being the key identifier for Alzheimer's. I've heard that they are very common as an early symptom for Lewy body dementia. Perhaps it was what you were meaning?

Elaine, has a doctor evaluated Mother and concluded she has dementia? What you describe does sound like dementia. That is, it sounds like a disorder of the mental processes that impairs memory, reasoning, and logic.

There are something like 50 specific diseases that cause dementia. The most well-known is Alzheimer's. Perhaps about 60% of progressive dementia cases in the elderly are Alzheimer's. Lewy Body Dementia (included Parkinson's with Dementia) is the second most common. Vascular Dementia is often associated with strokes. There are many other kinds of dementia.

A specialist may be able to establish what kind of dementia your mother has, and that, in turn, might help with treating the symptoms. There is not a cure for any kind of dementia, but often the quality of life can be improved by treating the most bothersome symptoms. For example, "restless at night" was an extreme understatement for my husband, and his neurologist was able to treat that effectively. Then falling down was worrisome, and again, the doctor was able to considerably reduce (but not eliminate) that problem.

I don't believe there is a "good" kind of dementia, or that some kinds are worse than others. They are all bad, each in its own way.

Alzheimer's key identifier is hallucinations, vivid ones.
Other forms of dementia include vascular dementia, where blood flow is bad and the patient is forgetful, then anxious and suspicious.
Parkinson's shows dementia in later stages, along with tremors.
Kidney failure can cause dementia because toxins build up and affect the brain.
Taking medications wrong can mimic dementia.
.Alcoholics can get tremors like Parkinson's or be confused as their body depletes thiamine (vitamin B1) and lacks good nutrition.
So take a look at her medical history for a few hints of what might be wrong.