My mother who is living independently and has been mentally competent has been showing signs of extreme short term memory, but not long term memory. She seems confused and forgetful about her abstract thinking about things that happen minutes prior, but not what happened long ago. Is this a sign of beginning dementia or should I be concerned about an underlining reason.
People disagree, but at 82, your mother no longer needs a mammogram. Cancer that occurs so late in life would be slow-growing, so early detection would not really save her life. Of course, that's up to you, her, and her doctor.
According to the book "The 36-hour Day", dementia is the loss or impairment of mental powers. Short term memory loss and repeating the same question over and over are both symptoms of dementia. Yes, it sounds like your mother has dementia.
The question is, what is causing it? There are common conditions like low thyroid or low vitamin B12 or medication that can cause dementia that may be reversible. It can also be caused by strokes. Treatment can prevent future strokes. That's why she should get a full work-up to be sure it's not an easy fix.
I hope it is reversible, for both of you.
I strongly believe her memory issues are from medications she's on for her heart and blood pressure. They slow her heart rate down and therefore decrease oxygen to her brain. My mom was on Lipitor for some time and that has been known to cause memory issues. I took her off it, but I think the damage was already done.
So I don't know if you'd call that dementia in the classic sense or not. I don't think it is. I'd look first at medications your mom is on.
It only occurs with things that have happened minutes ago only. Past hours, days, weeks, years do not affect her memory.