Reply to Possible Dementia-First Steps

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Believe it or not, test for a UTI.[/quote]

Yes, if this is recent onset and symptoms are that advanced already - elopement is usually fairly far along the dementia path- it could be that your loved one has a persistent low grade UTI that has caused cognitive impairment, a fairly common occurrence in elders.

Also should get sodium levels checked. I’m a professional caregiver and once worked with an elder who went from sharp and sassy to spaced out and falling down in a few days time - at the hospital after I had to have EMTs get her off the floor for me, doctors tried to discharge her because they assumed her behaviors were normal. I’m a former attorney and demanded that they keep her for observation, because I know it was a dramatic change of behavior in a short period which is not typical dementia onset. They kept her reluctantly after I asked whose fault it would be if she fell again and cracked her skull - and it turned out her sodium levels were totally off which caused substantial cognitive and motor dysfunction. She went right back to baseline once they got it sorted.

Dementia is far too common but there are also organic bases for some fairly sudden onset cognitive decline in elders that should always be ruled out.[/quote]

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