Hi, my name is Rose.

I'm not so sure m.c.d. and Alz. are one and the same. Alzheimers isn't the only
cause of confusion and dementia.  In the early stages it's very hard to know if
the person has Alzheimers.  Why diagnose Alzheimers if it's too early to tell?
I read that one in nine people diagnosed with Alzheimers are MISdiagnosed and
it turns out they have another problem. That's a large number of people.

My mom was diagnosed with cognitive disorder not otherwise specified three
years ago.  Several months ago she was diagnosed with mild to moderate
dementia.  One doctor thinks she has vascular dementia because he says her
personality is too much intact for it to be Alzheimers.  Another doctor thinks
it's either Alzheimers or Alzheimers mixed with vascular dementia.  If even now
that she has dementia, the doctors don't agree on what she has, then it makes
sense that they didn't diagnose her with Alzheimers when she had only mild
confusion and memory loss.

I was told when she was diagnosed with cognitive disorder that it was possible
she had Alzheimers and we had to keep our eyes open.  To be on the safe side
they put her on Aricept and Vitamin E immediately.  When she started declining
more precipitously three years later I had her reevaulated and the doctors came
up with their differing theories.

Long story short, I don't think it's bad for doctors to refrain from rushing to
judgment and diagnosing people withe Alzheimers before all the facts are in.
At least in my mother's case, lack of a firm Alz. diagnosis didn't hurt her.
She still received necessary treatment.

If the early symptoms are too subtle to tell, isn't it better that doctors hold
off on diagnosing a catastrophic illness until they know for sure?  I agree
that patients should be prepared for the possiblity of having something serious
so they can prepare, but what's the point of making a premature diagnosis?

___
"How do they know the dog food is any good?  Who tastes it?" -- Elaine,
"Seinfeld"