Zucchini

melissadifini3 · August 21

My father-in-law forgot what zucchini is called. I am noticing it happening more often, and it's random. Is this common?

towhee · August 21

Welcome to the forums. Does your FIL have a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's? If so, then forgetting random words is common.

If he does not have a diagnosis this could be any number of things including stress, dehydration, low sugar, etc. In any case if you are concerned a visit to the family doctor is a good idea.

harshedbuzz · August 21

@melissadifini3

Wordfinding issues are common in dementia but do not necessarily indicate dementia. If it is related to dementia you would be noticing other important losses as well— short term memory, repetitive stories, executive function, empathy, reasoning skills, impulse control and maintaining a social filter. That said, earlier loss of language before memory is clearly impaired is seen in PPA which is a variant of FTD.

It's interesting. My dad, who had mixed dementia, rarely lost words and when he did, he code-switched to a more elevated synonym. I recall walking into a rehab care meeting with dad demanding to know "by whose authority am I to be incarcerated in this place?" Mom, who does not have any cognitive shift per the researchers who tested her for a study to develop an enhanced screening process for PCPs, does have moderate wordfinding glitches. Life with her is like a game of charades.

HB

sandwichone123 · August 22

That was the very first symptom my dh had, about three years before there was any confusion. He forgot nouns, first a few but eventually really all nouns, and I'd have to guess. He was still in his mid-50s, and dementia was completely not on our minds until later.

Zucchini

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