Woman,53,Mistakenly Thought She Had dementia – It Was Liver Disease
Cambridge,UK – A 53-year-old woman,Jackie,initially believed she was developing dementia after experiencing frightening episodes where she failed to recognize loved ones,including her husband,Paul. However, the debilitating symptoms were ultimately traced to advanced liver disease, culminating in a life-saving transplant at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge this April.
Jackie was first diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in 2017 following a routine blood test. Further investigation revealed cirrhosis, leading to a liver biopsy in 2020 and a diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis. She was treated with prednisolone and monitored with regular scans and tests.
Until 2023, Jackie felt relatively well. However, she began experiencing increasing exhaustion, even with minimal exertion. The alarming cognitive symptoms began during a clinic visit after a routine endoscopy. “I’d be exhausted just walking up the stairs. One day I had my regular endoscopy, came back into the clinic and didn’t recognise Paul,” Jackie recounted. “He seemed to know who I was, and he was holding my coat, so I decided it was OK to go with him.”
The following day, she mistook her husband for a nurse and struggled to identify her stepchildren, Jack and Sophie, recognizing onyl her uncle, brothers, and son, Zachary. Initially, doctors attributed the confusion to the sedation from the endoscopy.
The episodes, lasting up to ten minutes and occurring several times a week, continued. Eventually, doctors resolute the symptoms were linked to her liver disease.A neurological examination revealed shaking hands, a sign of significant liver dysfunction.
“Up to 80 per cent of people with liver disease have low-level cognitive symptoms such as poor sleep or problems concentrating. But more rarely, it can mimic dementia,” explained a specialist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
Jackie was placed on the transplant list and underwent a successful liver transplant in April. “When I woke up I knew it had gone,” she said. “I’d felt for a long time my head was stuffed with cotton wool and everything was hazy.That vanished. It was like I’d had dementia and recovered.”
While Jackie will require lifelong immunosuppressant medication to prevent organ rejection and the transplant won’t cure her autoimmune hepatitis, the confusion is unlikely to return. “I can’t put into words how grateful I am. Now everyone’s back to their normal lives – including me,” she stated.
For more information on autoimmune hepatitis and hepatic encephalopathy, visit britishlivertrust.org.uk.
