Puzzled readers often ask why certain behaviors their elders exhibit seem to mirror classic Alzheimer’s disease, yet other behaviors don’t. Many are surprised when I suggest that the elder may have a “mixed diagnosis.” Just as someone can have cancer and diabetes at the same time, a person can have Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, or vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, or any number of other pathologies which can cause dementia.
Puzzled readers often ask why certain behaviors their elders exhibit seem to mirror classic Alzheimer’s disease, yet other behaviors don’t. Many are surprised when I suggest that the elder may have a “mixed diagnosis.” Just as someone can have cancer and diabetes at the same time, a person can have Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, or vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, or any number of other pathologies which can cause dementia.
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