Which doctor is which?

rosariared · 08-14-2007, 08:14 PM

Firstly, thankyou to angelbear for her very useful advice in answer to my last thread. Great job. I wonder if anyone else has had trouble finding a doctor that knows enough about Alzheimers to be helpful. I find my father in laws GP totally inadequate when it comes to alzheimers. He refferred us to a neurologist at our local public hospital who immediately asked us why we were referred to him in the first place. He promptly reminded us that "we don't often see Alzheimers patients here." In both cases I found that after caring for my father inlaw for only a month and having read a couple of books on the subject, I seemed to know more about Alzheimers than either of these medical professionals. So, can someone tell me which medical professional IS knowledgeable about this disease? Given that Alzheimers is not a rare disease, I am confused by the lack of knowledge I find within the medical field so far. Is it because this is considered an old persons disease and the elderly don't seem to be considered important just because they are at the end of life? Has anyone else experienced this?

Martha H · 08-14-2007, 09:40 PM

As strange as it may seem, the doctor who helped us most was my mother's old general practicioner. He had been confronted with Alzheimers several times in his long career (he is retired now) and had the best advice for us - which at the time we ignored, "place her in a good nursing home!" He tried out the drugs that were available at the time, Aricept and Namenda, and contnued treating her for heart failure and high blood pressure etc.

Mom did get referred to a neurologist for tests that would rule out brain tumors or find evidence of strokes. None of those were present. Now she is in a NH with its own specialist who comes in for regular visits. I think his proper title is a gereontologist, an old age specialist.

The family doctor took a long time to diagnose Mom because he knew her so well and had always admired her spunk and physcal activeness for her advanced old age, but once he realized that she had dementia, he was very understanding and supportive of her and the whole family. He was also my brother's, my sister in law's and my doctor.

Good luck with it. My long drawn out experience with this disease has led to me to believe there is very little a doctor can do - treat certain symptoms, such as hallucinations or hyperactivity or anger or depression - but not cure the disease itself; no cure has yet been found. I think maybe doctors hate to treat a patient they cannot cure. They get frustrated - seeing no imrovement but only further deterioration, just as the families get frustrated.

Martha

DGabriel10 · 08-14-2007, 11:13 PM

As I have said before MARS (Memory Assessment Research Service, a cognitive research center) has been the most help to us. And they are psychologist specializing in Alzheimer diagnostic research and not MDs. Mom was misdiagnosed with Depression for over 2 years, finally diagnosed by MARS, and now her physician tells her to "pay attention" to her driving. Mom's therapist tells her to think happy thoughts. Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer 8 years ago and he is still almost as functional as he was 8 years ago. He's is not Alzheimer but a different form of dementia.... probably vascular considering his heart and circulatory problems. There are no Gerontologist in the small town my parents live in and we have to have local doctor's that the care giver can access easily. The medical care that I have found for my parents, as they have aged with this obnoxious disease, has been substandard at best. We just do the best we can and stumble along using common sense and lots of research. I have found it is beneficial to be very proactive, ask lots of questions, and question what you are told. I can truly empathize with those of you that are finding it difficult to get adequate medical care for your loved ones.

With love...... Deb

angel_bear · 08-15-2007, 05:46 AM

I LOVE having another Aussie on the board .. !! Makes me feel useful!!

You need a referral to a PSYCHIATRIC GERIATRICIAN .. they're as rare as hen's teeth, and as old as your charge, but they're worth their weight in gold.

They get the ball rolling in as much as a "Formal Diagnosis". A normal GP can 'guess' and do a MMSE (mini Mental), but the Pscho/geriatrician is the one who calls it. Once you've got that diagnosis ... the rest of the ball starts to roll.

I have found your worst 'enemy' is the Family Doctor. He see's the patient too often to realise any decline, he also doesn't spend a heck of a lot of time with them to sift through what's real and what's not (my MIL used to say "Fine, OK" to the question "how are you today?" and I would butt in and say "Well, she had a funny turn 3 days ago and she's been leaning to her left since then (hint: TIA), and she's had another driving accident (Hint: Cancel her licence) ........ but he would say "Oh well, that's to be expected" and carry on. When I challenged him after I placed her ... he said "But I didn't want to lose her"

ARRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH .....for heavens sake ..... he does HOUSE visits at the nursing home, and he was worried he would lose her as a patient.

Gimme a break.

Many, Many, Many medical authorities believe Dementia/Alzheimers is overdiagnosed so don't really listen until something happens ..... hence their laid back attitude. You need to be pushy.

Best advice is start a journal .. make it daily, of what happens in your charges day to day life. What you had to do to assist, who helped, who didn't (covers you legally too if family members decide to get nasty).

This disease is evil ... it affects EVERYBODY in one way or another.

goodluck, let me know how you get on. If I knew which state you were in, I can get some contact numbers for you.

Cheers

ibake&pray · 08-15-2007, 12:59 PM

f your parent is in a nursing home the best bet is to ask the nurses who to use. We have changed insurance plans just to get my parents with the doctors that the nursing staff have recommended for them that treat the 1)elderly and 2)those stricken with Alzheimers. I have worked too hard to get my mother in a good facility and her meds balanced to ruin it with a doctor that is a med slasher and incompetent in the nurses eyes.

When you have the head nurse say that she would not let a family member see that doctor if they were dead you know you have issues.......hence the change in insurance plans....that was another journey i took this past month.

But, the nurses know who is good and who isn't. Listen well to them. They can be your best adovocate...