QA with DR RESHMA MERCHANT, geriatrician and head of general medicine at National University Hospital
Q: I am worried about my mother, who seems to have lost her alertness since retiring from running a poultry stall in a wet market about two years ago.
She is now 65 years old. She has diabetes, high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis.
In the last six months, I have observed that she has a tendency to forget what she wants to say even after she has started talking about something.
Her short-term memory has also translated into many wasted trips to the supermarket as she would buy the wrong items.
She is unable to reply ‘to the point’ in a conversation.
Such behaviour is recurring very often. Are these the early signs of dementia? Is there anything that I can do to keep it at bay?
My mother is still mobile and able to visit family and friends and she exercises.
Ismailimail 