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a family member has suggested that my LO’s Dementia may have been misdiagnosed. They have known of cases of Metabolic Encephalopathy that can be cured they say with antibiotics.

Very often chronic underlying medical issues are a large factor in metabolic encephalopathy . It’s not always caused by an infection . It’s not always cured either .
The underlying problems need to be managed , some permanent changes can occur that resemble dementia .

My sister was having slight dementia symptoms for about a year , then she developed full on metabolic encephalopathy ( due to some other serious chronic medical issues , that she neglected to take some of her meds for years ). She had bad seizures in the hospital and almost died . Although she improved , she has never returned to her baseline . She also was diagnosed with vascular dementia 6 months later .

I should add that before having full on metabolic encephalopathy , my sister was also having other neuro symptoms , gait problems , etc . Doctors had thought at one point it was ALS , or an aggressive form of MS that elderly people get ( though rare) . It wasn’t until she got much worse , came down with delerium at home and my nephew ( who she lives with ) called 911 , landing her in the hospital that the encephalopathy was found.
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Reply to waytomisery
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I agree with Alva, but does this family member have any actual reason to suspect a misdiagnosis?

From what I can research, it is usually caused by some underlying health issue such as:

Diabetes (hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia)
Heart failure
Kidney failure
Liver disease or liver failure
Malnutrition
Pancreatitis
Sepsis
Vasculitis

and toxic agents, including:
Alcoholism / drub addiction (non-prescribed)
Heavy metal poisoning

You would be hard pressed to not see any of the symptoms from those listed risk factors. If you are the Medical PoA for your LO then you can have this discussion with their primary physician.
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Reply to Geaton777
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There are many encephalopathy diagnoses, including alcoholic encephalopathy. If someone has reason to be concerned about a misdiagnosis this should be discussed with medical personnel. As to whether this is possible? Anything is possible in missed diagnosis in medicine. Anything is worth exploration.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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