need some help please

[hokiefan03]

I have a 14 year old son that has lost 30 pounds since Dec.  He has memory loss, dizziness, confusion and had a bad headache this morning.  The Dr. checked his thyroid and for diabetes both both tests came back fine.  He is having trouble even remembering where his room is.
I need to know if I should take him to the ER for a CT scan on his brain.  He has no known injuries.  The blood work that the did at the drs. office all came back normal.

[Pantx]

As a mother, if my son couldn't remember where his room is, I would take him to an emergency room and demand an admission. Did his doctor take any other labwork like CBC / CMP? check his electrolytes?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
I am sorry to hear about your son’s medical problems. His memory loss could be due to the weight loss. Unintentional weight loss could be due to eating disorder. In which case taking help from a doctor specialized in treating eating disorders will help. There are many other causes of unexplained weight loss like worms in stool, depression, anorexia nervosa, AIDS (unlikely in your son’s case), cancers especially colon cancers, drug abuse, infections and loss of appetite. Loss of appetite can again be due to certain medications, drug abuse, depression, AIDS, acute and chronic infections, eating disorders, cancers and hypothyroidism. Increased metabolism is seen in hyperthyroid states, HIV, cancer etc. Poor absorption as in irritable bowel syndromes and malabsorption syndromes too is possible. Malabsorption syndromes are seen in intestinal tuberculosis, HIV, tropical sprue, parasites in stool and Whipple’s Disease. Diabetes too can be the cause. Please consult your doctor regarding this. Take care!

The medical advice given should not be considered a substitute for medical care provided by a doctor who can examine you. The advice may not be completely correct for you as the doctor cannot examine you and does not know your complete medical history. Hence this reply to your post should only be considered as a guiding line and you must consult your doctor at the earliest for your medical problem.