I've got 2 people in my family currently living with dementia. Others who have died with it. One of the things that strikes me is when people say you can slow the onset or progression. I have come to no longer believe that, and I think it's a form of denial for those of us who want to feel like we can do something about it.
"Get exercise, stimulate the brain, eat healthy", etc. This is great advice for everyone. But it will not prevent or cure or delay dementia the way anyone hopes it will. Sorry to be a bummer but this is just not the case from my lived experience with middle age and older folks who do all these things and still suffer the eventual consequences of one of the least understood and most awful of diseases.

Get a POA in place. Make a plan re DNR, long term care, etc. You will need it.

Anonymous wrote:Because there isn't anything that can be done, what would be the benefit of a neurologist? This is a real question, not a snarky one. Would seeing a neurologist help OP's father access different supports down the road? Is tracking the decline helpful? Or rather, does the helpfulness outweigh the stress and sadness of it?

I think it depends on the person. If going to the neurologist agitates OP's parents, then it is not worth it. If seeing a doctor gives them a sense of *doing* something, then they should go. FWIW my mom is the type who will worry and google too much. Taking my dad to the neurologist and getting an official diagnosis made her feel better because they ruled out Alzheimers and more aggressive diseases. My dad is easygoing and enjoyed talking to the neurologist, so it was NBD.

Anonymous wrote:
77 is very young to be having issues that significant and his GP sounds terrible.

It really is not. More than half of men die before getting to that age.

I’m not sure if this is referred to as vascular dementia or something else but my dad had some cognitive issues when his carotid arteries were clogged. He had the procedure to clear out the gunk and it helped significantly. That was thru his cardiologist.
My dad also had some cognitive issues around that age that turned out to be caused by medication he was oin—the medication had insomnia as a potential side effect. It turned out he was only sleeping an hour or two a night and so of course he was confused during the day. We took him off the medicine and he was fine.
77 is very young to be having issues that significant and his GP sounds terrible. He should see a cardiologist and a neurologist and maybe a geriatric specialist GP.

Here’s a great resource to share with your mom and dad: https://thekensingtonwhiteplains.com/what-are-the-7-stages-of-vascular-dementia/#:~:text=Vascular%20dementia%20symptoms%20can%20occur,before%20symptoms%20begin%20to%20worsen.

As you’ll see when you review it, there *are* measures your dad can take to slow the progression of the disease.

Make sure his blood pressure is under control. Other than that, I don’t think there’s much that can be done.

(Not a doctor)