Tuesday, February 7, 2012
     
 
 
Features
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak Alexis McKenzie, right, executive director of The Methodist Home of the District of Columbia Forest Side, an Alzheimer's assisted-living facility, shares a light moment with resident Catherine Peake recently. Dementia can sneak up on families because its sufferers are pretty adept at covering lapses early on, longer if their spouses are there to compensate. Specialists are pushing for the first National Alzheimer's Plan to help overcome this barrier to detection.

WASHINGTON (AP) Alexis McKenzie's mother had mild dementia, but things sounded OK when she phoned home: Dad was with her, finishing his wife's sentences as they talked about puttering through the day and a drive to the store.

Then their phone service was cut off. "I mailed that check," McKenzie's father insisted. No, he'd mailed the phone company a bank deposit slip instead. McKenzie visited and discovered spoiling food. Dad the caregiver was in trouble, too.