Why is 85-year-old mum now telling me obvious lies?

GETTING TO THE HEART OF MEDICAL MATTERS

- Dr Rosemary Leonard

My 85 year old mother has started lying to me and my brother, which is completely out of character for her.

She lives on her own and we have had a few concerns about her memory recently, but she generally looks after herself quite well. But now, when we phone her and ask what she has had for lunch, or what she has been doing, she tells us things that are clearly not true, such as saying she has been out to the local cafe with a friend who lives at the other end of the country. When I challenged her, she got really cross with me and told me I was talking nonsense. What do we do?