Late-onset epilepsy can be confused with dementia
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BY Kimberly Perez Ohio
UPDATED 8:05 PM ET Jul. 13, 2026 PUBLISHED 8:05 PM ET Jul. 12, 2026
ERIE, Penn. — Epilepsy is most common in two groups: young kids, who often outgrow it, and older adults diagnosed with late-onset epilepsy. This second group also looks different.
It may not involve the body stiffening or shaking and can present as confusion or forgetfulness.
Jeff Will was diagnosed with late-onset epilepsy after his wife found him doing some very odd things.
“He had gone over, picked up my Christmas sweater, and he was trying to put his legs in the arms. And I kept telling him it was my sweater, and it wasn’t his pants,” said Pam Will with a laugh.
Jeff Will had always been a buttoned-up guy, running his own electrical company for 46 years, but four years ago his wife said he started forgetting things at work and having to excuse himself.
She said although he was fine most of the time, there were moments he did not know where they lived, where they were going, or what was going on.
Late-onset epilepsy can be easy to confuse with dementia. Some doctors suggested Jeff had dementia, but Pam had doubts, saying he could relearn the things he’d forgotten, like using the TV remote.
“They more commonly have more subtle signs of seizures, which are maybe just a fluctuation in their mental status or cognitive status, where for a few minutes they might not seem like themselves or not responding as well,” said Dr. Vineet Punia, adult epileptologist at Cleveland Clinic.
The hospital received a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Health with the goal of helping older adults who may face both epilepsy and dementia to help them better understand and manage their condition on their own.
Punia said it's tricky to diagnose because many older adults live alone.
“A lot of times we depend on the clinical diagnosis of epilepsy - people who witnessed the episode - because the person may not remember,” said Punia
Pam kept a journal of all Will's episodes. She said he walked out of the house one day and started collecting sticks in his golf bag.
Will doesn’t remember any of it.
He's now on medications and says his life is back to normal. And he's back to using his golf bag for golf.