This week we would like to share with you a recent post by Dr. Arnaldo Liechtenstein, general practitioner and professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of São Paulo. Dr. Liechtenstein practices medicine in a warm climate, but in these “dog days of summer” his message is very relevant even here up north.
Whenever I teach clinical medicine to students in the fourth year of medicine, I ask the following question: What are the most common causes of mental confusion in the elderly?
Some student offer: "Tumors in the head". I answer: No!
Others suggest: "Early symptoms of Alzheimer's". I answer again: No!
With each rejection of their answers, their responses dry up.
And they are even more open-mouthed when I mention that one of the most common causes is dehydration.
It may sound like a joke, but it isn't. People over 60 constantly stop feeling thirsty and consequently stop drinking fluids.
When no one is around to remind them to drink fluids, they dehydrate. Dehydration affects the entire body. It may cause abrupt mental confusion, a drop in blood pressure, increased heart palpitations, angina (chest pain), coma, and even death.
But there are more complications. Although they are dehydrated, they don't feel like drinking water, because their internal balance mechanisms are not working well. Although they may look healthy, the decline in metabolic functions can result in damage to their entire body.
So here are two recommendations:
1) Get into the habit of drinking liquids. Liquids include water, juices, teas, coconut water, milk, soups, and water-rich fruits, such as watermelon, melon, peaches and pineapple; orange and tangerine also work.
2) For family members: constantly offer fluids to people over 60. At the same time, observe them. If you realize that they are rejecting liquids and, from one day to the next, they are irritable, breathless, or display a lack of attention, these are almost certainly recurrent symptoms of dehydration.
Dehydration creates many of the same symptoms as the lower limb fluid pooling we often discuss on this blog. If a family member or friend is demonstrating symptoms of hypotension, and they do not have symptoms of fluid pooling, such as swollen ankles or legs, follow Dr. Liechtenstein’s advice, and consider the possibility of dehydration.
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Find original article here https://www.sonostics.com/tips-for-healthy-living/mental-confusion
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