Worried about my dad

Hello, i am very worried about my dad. He is 63 years old. there no no alzheimers history in the ffamily. All my grandparents died after the age of 80 without getting it. Also none of my uncles/aunts has it. that's the background...

the other day he was looking for cheese to make a sandwich. he went to the fridge and told my mom she didnt buy cheese. she said he did and he should look again. he said she didnt. it turnes out he was looking in the freezer instead of the fridge. I found it very very odd and cannot explain how he can make such mistake

our fridge is one of those when the fridge and the freezer are side by side rather than top and bottom so it's a little bit let odd. he said he was just tired (it was 10PM or so) and didnt pay attention. but i still find that mistake to be EXTREMELY odd.

i dont live at home so i dont talk to him or get to watch him day to day but my sisters and mom say he's completely fine and clear minded and they never noticed anything odd about him. the say he does forget things from time to time but that is just normal forgetfulness that everyone has (forgetting to take the trash, or to pick something up). they all think i am crazy to worry.

also, a couple of months ago i was home for 3 weeks and i spent a lot of time with him. i never noticed anything weird that got me to worry.

my questions are:
1. is this a symptom of alzheimers?
2. can something so bizarre be just an innocuous "brain fart"
3. how worried should i be? is my family right saying i am crazy?

[Shiv Kumar, MD]

Dear scareddude80,

It is difficult to say if one episode of memory disturbance , which may also be called as confusion,  could be a symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Before one develops Alzheimer's, there is a stage called Mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It is often a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. Although MCI can present with a variety of symptoms, when memory loss is the predominant symptom it is termed as "amnestic MCI" and is frequently seen as a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease. Studies suggest that people with MCI tend to progress to probable Alzheimer’s disease at a rate of approximately 10% to 15% per year.  Some people with MCI may never progress to Alzheimer’s disease.

MCI is diagnosed when there is: evidence of memory impairment, preservation of general cognitive and functional abilities and absence of diagnosed dementia. However, the diagnosis of MCI requires a comprehensive clinical assessment including clinical observation, neuroimaging, blood tests and neuropsychological testing in order to rule out an alternate diagnosis.

I really appreciate your effort in picking up this problem. I would suggest that you take your dad to a Neuropsychologist and Dementia expert after consulting your GP for a detailed evaluation.

Hope that this information helps and hope that you will get better soon.

Thank you for using MedHelp's "Ask an Expert" Service, where we feature some of world's renowned medical experts in their fields. Millions have benefitted from our service to get personalized advice for them and for their loved ones.

Best Regards,
Dr. Shiva Kumar R.

[scareddude80]

But can something like this be just a normal one time mistake?

[comfortlife]

Don't worry, nothing to get scared it's normal to do mistakes like this even I also had done something like this and I am only 23

[allmymarbles]

Dr. Kumar seems to be over-reacting. You could go the doctor route (in which case they are bound to find "something"). If it were me I would keep an eye on my father, and if there were more such episodes would have him evaluated. But one single odd occurrence of this type does not a disease make.