Sudden confusion in the elderly, often referred to as delirium, is alarming for both the elderly person and those who love them. Intermittent confusion in elderly people may indicate the beginning stage of dementia, but there are other reasons for a sudden episode of confusion. Age-related dementia usually develops over the course of months or even years. Assessing confusion in the elderly is necessary to determine whether there is an underlying cause or medical reason for it, especially if elderly confusion comes and goes. People over 60 generally stop feeling thirsty and consequently, stop drinking fluids. When no one is around to remind them to drink fluids, they quickly dehydrate. Dehydration is severe and 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.
This habit of forgetting to drink fluids, begins at age 60, when we have just over 50% of the water we should have in our bodies. People over 60 have a lower water reserve. This is part of the natural aging process.
But there are more complications. Although they are dehydrated, they don’t feel like drinking water, because their internal balance mechanisms don’t work very well. People over 60 years old dehydrate easily, not only because they have a smaller water supply; but also because they do not feel the lack of water in the body.
Although people over 60 may look healthy, the performance of reactions and chemical functions can damage their entire body. Get into the habit of drinking liquids. Liquids include water, juices, teas, coconut water, soups, and water-rich fruits, such as watermelon, melon, peaches and pineapple; Orange and tangerine also work. The important thing is that, every two hours, you must drink some liquid. Alert 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. Dementia and Alzheimer’s are the first things we think of when our loved one shows signs of deteriorating mental capacity, but the cause of confusion in elderly people is not always a normal part of the aging process.
