Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] My mother is 74 years old and was very healthy until she was recently diagnosed with a herniated disc caused by a fall. Since then she is extremely fragile, she can t do regular activities such as getting up off a chair or getting out of the car without help. During the last week, we have noticed her memory is also affected. Forgetting to turn off the oven, not knowing where an item came from, and even thanking my father for running the vacuum (which he had not). She has an appointment with a neurosurgeon at the end of August. Just wondering if this memory loss could be caused by her spine issue. Thanks
[|AI|]  Hello; thanks for the query. Simple answer NO. Spine injuries will not cause memory issues. But given her age 70+ years; these may easily be senility related memory issues or onset of a process known as dementia. You might have suddenly started noticing it as she has recently suffered a fall & hence you are taking her health issues more seriously than before; whereas there is a possibility that there might be very subtle signs of memory difficulties over last 6 months to 1 year which might have gone unnoticed. Your description of her problems seems more likely to be due to dementia (probably Steamers dementia). Hence, get her evaluated by a Psychiatrist/Neurologist & start appropriate treatment. Hope this helps. Good Luck