Comments on: Delirium Is Dangerous In The Elderly

By: Mara

Mara — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:02:40 +0000

You might like to look into the risks of general anaesthesia, enhanced in the elderly (whose brains are already running on reduced supplies of O2, nutrients, etc). My mother first observed this in her own mother, after an operation for cataract (simple op, but the anaesthesia is brutal) – she started to deteriorate mentally thereafter. Then more recently with my father, who had a couple of hernia ops in the last 2 years of his life, both under general anaesthesia (again fairly routine ops – or supposed to be… the first resulted in a blocked intestine, which is not good for you). There was a noticeable decline in his cognitive capacity after both ops – recovered partially over time, but not completely. Horrifying to see a man who was a distinguished research scientist in his day, not being able to figure out how to use the TV remote. My mother unearthed some research that had been done here in Australia…. the dangers of general anaesthesia are generally not mentioned (& nobody thinks to ask about it)…. but it’s something that should be made more public.

By: Allen Childs

Allen Childs — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 16:48:54 +0000

My wife and I went thru this with her mother and thru powerful nutrition/supplement measures helped her regain memory. A couple times in the hospital were set backs but we took our food and supplements to the hospital for her and our own good well water. So true on the dehydration issue and you have to watch the staff all the time due to conflicting instructions and I will do it my way attitudes. Truly not a safe place. We did this for over 7 year period. But every minute was worth it.

By: Doran waclawiak

Doran waclawiak — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 21:41:29 +0000

Dehydration is extremely common in hospitals, to the point that doctors often “medicate” for water levels to ensure the nurses don’t overlook this. Symptoms are commonly confused with dementia which increases the risk of inappropriate medication and it’s side effects