AboutMargot RN BScN GNC Expertise GERONTOLOGY (NURSING ISSUES RELATED TO THE ELDERY) I have 15+ years experience working with the elderly. I would be pleased to offer any assistance I can. My areas of expertise include: Gerontology / Geriatrics, Long Term Care, Community Nursing, Palliative Care, Private Nursing Services, Intermediate / Extended Care. I also have a personal interest in Homeopathic and Eastern Medicine. If I can not answer your question I`ll do my best to direct you to an appropriate resource. Thank you.
Experience I have fifteen years experience in Gerontological Nursing both in the community, and in Long Term Care. I have worked as a General Duty Nurse, a Nurse Manager, and a Nursing Consultant in Long Term Care and Community Nursing.I have a great deal of experience working with, assessing, and educating in the field of Gerontology (Nursing the Elderly). I am familiar with the challenges associated with Dementia (Alzheimer's), Chronic and Terminal illnesses. Experience in the area 20 years of Long Term Care and Community Nursing, specialising in Geriatrics, Gerontology and PalliativeCare.
Education/Credentials Registered Nurse , Certified Gerontological Nurse, Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Question hello, my mother of 86 years old was admitted in the hospital yesterday due to unresponsiveness and hypertension. she was put on Lopresser in the ER, she was coherrent and oriented to time and place. after spending many hours in the hospital bed, her BP shot up to 228/102 which made her become unresponsive again along with confused and disoriented behavior. once given medication to decrease her BP she returned to her normal state of calm and kind. Today, while alone with nurses, she became confused and aggitated. she was oriented with answering question except with her state of place. Nurses automatically diagnosed with her with sundowning, with this she is also being treated for a UTI. is it possible for one to develop dimentia acutely or could this simply be a side affect of a geriatric patient with a UTI. Please advise!
Answer Hi Janet and thanks for writing,
Yes it is very difficult to guess without knowing your Mother’s complete medical history and her current test results, but I can share some general information.
It sounds like your Mother is having Delusions or Hallucinations, and these can caused by many things. Usually when we see someone start to get delusional we look for treatable causes and don’t right away right it off as Dementia.
The most common cause in older people is a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) due to decreased fluid intake, dehydrating medications and of course the female anatomy works against us, especially if we’re incontinent. I would ask her GP not to label her as having Dementia until the treatable causes (like UTI) have been ruled out.
Of course taking some medications can also cause delusions, especially if she doesn’t eat or drink much which will allow the medication to build up in her system as it’s not flushed out fast enough. Delusions can be a sign of medication toxicity which can easily be detected with a simple blood test to show serum levels.
Those are the two most common causes of treatable delusions in the elderly. Another very common but obviously not treatable cause of behavioural changes is CVAs (Strokes) and TIAs (Mini-strokes) which can not be detected without a CT Scan – but even if we confirm a stroke with a scan, we can’t treat them, we simply then know a probably cause of the delusions. With her BP running so high, these are very likely.
So my advice is to talk to the doctor about looking for treatable causes of the delusions, if her doctor won’t help (sadly, not all doctors are that interested in our elders), speak to your doctor or ask for a referral to a Gerontologist.
