Senile Dementia

I'm not a doctor of any kind. However, because my mother was diagnosed with Senile dementia and I watched her changes for 7to8 years until she died from it, the first thing you need to know is that both senile dementia and alzheimers are in the end fatal. There is no recovery from either of these diseases. Though less is known about alzheimers, a lot is known about senile dementia. First of all it is hardening of the arteries of the brain. One of the ways to prevent the symptoms of Senile dementia is regular B-12 shots past about age 50. The problem is that many people over 50 can't process B-12 vitamins or any B-vitamins in their stomachs. Since the brain cannot remain rational without B-12 many people start to lose it mentally as a result if they don't get enough B-12. If your stomach can't any longer process B-12 then there are only two ways to get it: one through sub lingual B-12's under the tongue that are taken directly into the bloodstream through salts under the tongue or by a B-12 injection at your doctors.

Also, many things can mimic senile dementia symptoms like strong antibiotics given to someone after their late 70s for example, or drugs that reduce sodium in the blood to the point where one goes into temporary dementia from low sodium. another way to artificially go into dementia is too much salt in the diet. When sodium is either raised or lowered to a normal level a person usually gets better.

However, when someone loses it sometimes there doesn't seem to be a way of going back to normal and then this is senile dementia. Often a person can remember their childhood but can't remember their children, spouses or friends eventually. However, if it is senile dementia the first symptoms can usually be diagnosed if a person gets transfer trauma. For example, in 1999 I took my mother to Scotland, England and Europe. My mother, I expected to be her normal harmonious happy person, but no she was the most difficult person on the trip even though I was traveling also with my 10 year old daughter. My normally happy harmonious mother was very unusually difficult especially after we landed in Germany. When I rented a motorhome once she got into it she wouldn't ever come out of it through Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Italy until I eventually drove it back to Munich, Germany to return it to where I rented it and flew to England. I couldn't believe how strange my mother got. However, now I know(10 years later) that she was evidencing "Transfer trauma" or the inability to cope with new surroundings which is an early symptom of "Senile Dementia".

Within the next two years my mother totally began to lose it and was unsafe to let live in her apartment anymore after she almost burned it down by placing a plastic tupperware bowl on the electric stove and watching it burn while she prayed for it to stop burning for 24 hours. When my son saw this(He was about 25 then) he realized that she could no longer live unsupervised. Within 3 months we had no choice but to institutionalize her for her safety and for ours.

Though this was awful for the whole family we saw no other way to protect her from herself and to protect the rest of the family from her actions.

I'm sharing this with you because I'm finding more and more people having to deal with either senile dementia or alzheimers in their elderly relatives.

The single most important thing I can say to you is that when they start to go, especially the men they might become dangerous and need someone stronger than they to subdue them in an emergency if they are harming themselves or someone else. This person might have been your hero all your life but once they go they are no longer the same person you know and might be capable of almost anything at anytime whether you are awake or asleep. So it is important to realize this before they harm themselves or someone else. Once someone goes over into senile dementia or alzheimers anything can happen and sometimes does. Just remember that they are no longer the person you knew, they are only the body you knew. This is really an important distinction so that you can remain rational dealing with them and protecting yourself and them in any emergency that arises. Dealing with my mother's situation from 1999 in Europe until she died last fall 2008 was the single worst and most difficult thing I ever had to deal with. The hardest thing is to stay rational through all this while you permanently lose a loved one but their body is still alive. It's enough to make anyone temporarily crazy from the slow loss. So keep rational through it all for everyone's sake, especially the rest of your family and friends who are still alive and okay.