Dr. Oz Reveals His Mother Diagnosed With Alzheimer’s: ‘I’m Feeling Guilty Because I Completely Missed the Signs’

Dr. Mehmet Oz has revealed that his 81-year-old mother, Suna Oz, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The Dr. Oz Show host opened up about the diagnosis in a recent interview with PEOPLE, explaining that the diagnosis was a “gut punch” that has left him “feeling guilty” as he “completely missed the signs” that his mother’s health was declining. Oz explained that he and his siblings had noticed differences in their mother’s behavior, but they failed to put two and two together.

“If the right word was, ‘You look beautiful today,’ she would use, ‘You look pretty prettier today.’ I missed those clues,” he told the outlet, stating that the disease “is like a snake in the grass. You don’t see it. You only see the effects of it suddenly. And if there’s a wind blowing the grass, you don’t even notice the grass moving strangely. It sneaks up on you.”

Oz said that he began to grow concerned and decided to take his mother to the doctor for testing after her stubbornness transitioned into “dangerous” irrational behavior. After a series of tests, it was confirmed that Suna had Alzheimer’s disease. She now lives in her home country of Turkey with Oz’s sister, the diagnosis taking a toll on the entire family.

“These are not normal things from my mom. And that’s the most painful part of this whole process because I end up losing my mom twice,” Oz said, explaining that his mother “couldn’t quite process” that his daughter, Daphne Oz, had given birth to a daughter less than a month ago. “The woman that I love whose bright eyes were there for every experience I’ve ever had as a child — those eyes are starting to dim. The light that that made her who she was is starting to go out.”

“As she stops knowing what I’m talking about, as her memories evaporate, she stops being my mom. And then her body will still be there, and obviously I love that body, but it won’t be the same as loving my mom,” he added. “And then years later you actually bury the person.”

Oz, whose father Dr. Mustafa Oz died in February at the age of 93, said that he has since learned that he also carries one of the genes for Alzheimer’s.

“That was shocking,” he said. “I guess you don’t expect it. But from my perspective, my mom gave me a great set of cards to play life with, and she taught me how to play those cards. But she gave me one bad card, and I can’t throw that card away, I’m stuck with it.”

Oz went on to say that he now plans to work on preventative measures like watching his belly fat and keeping his mind sharp. He is also choosing to cherish the memories he has with his mother, stating that he is “thinking about how much she’s accomplished in her life and what a pleasure it was having her as my mom.”