My mother has been diagnosed with mild dementia [View all]

Hi all, this forum doesn't seem to get much activity, but I hope someone reads this. My 76 y/o mom received this diagnosis from her primary physician. It was part of a followup exam after a hospitalization for the flu last month. He said it wasn't Alzheimers. He didn't seem overly concerned about it. No referral to a specialist, no prescription, no activity restrictions-she can do whatever she wants to do, including drive. To a layperson, dementia is a very scary word, so I'm at a loss for what to think about this. Is the definition for dementia so broad now that nearly everyone past a certain age qualifies on some level, or is this doc missing the boat, and should we be looking to get more proactive about it? Thanks in advance.

Edit: I don't know what criteria the Dr was using, I didn't talk to him, the information was relayed by my father. I see my mother several times a week, and apart from neurological symptoms caused by the flu, I haven't noticed anything. She had a a seizure, followed by a brief episode of delirium, and had a little amnesia about what happened that week, but it has quickly resolved, and she's bounced back nearly to normal, from what I can tell. I have read that when acute illness causes neuropsychiatric symptoms in an older person, it's a marker for dementia, but other than that, I don't know what he may be basing it on.