My Mother Is 95 Years Old. She Has Moderate Dementia

Posted on Mon, 4 Jan 2021

Question: My mother is 95 years old. She has moderate dementia and lives with me. For the most part she is able to go to the restroom on her own, bath herself, etc. She sometimes needs help getting up from a lying down or sitting position. She also could answer questions without difficulty until late last night. Her speech has become unrecognizable, almost sounds like she is mumbling. This occasionally would happen when she is extremely tired and has practically no energy at all. I was able to help her up and take her to her bed. She could fully understand everything I said to her but could not speak properly. She also sounds very congested. Her breathing is good (except for the congestion). Right now she can still understand what I’m saying but cannot respond. I helped her put her sweatpants on and she able to lift herself up slightly to help me. She has not eaten anything today and has trouble sitting up to drink. I have been able to give some liquids through a straw earlier, but now she doesn’t have the strength to use the straw. She does not have a fever and has not been coughing. I asked her if she wanted me to call paramedics to take her to the hospital and she was able to answer no and was adamant about it. I don’t know if I should have her go to the hospital anyway or let her rest and see if she improves.

Answered by Dr. Heang Chan Raksmey (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
In this acute onset you may need to bring her to see a doctor.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thank you for your question. Hope I can be of help for you today. In this acute onset you may need to bring her to see a doctor. The doctor may need to do physical examination and if there are suggestions of a subdural hematoma, thrombotic stroke, or cerebral hemorrhage, her doctor may need to do neuroimaging with a head computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The treatment of dementia depends on what kind of dementia she has. If she has alzheimer disease, there are medicines that might help some. If she has vascular dementia, her doctor will focus on keeping her blood pressure and cholesterol as close to normal as possible. Doing that can help reduce further damage to the brain.

I hope that It can help you, and please let me know if you have any clarification or question about that, and I would be welcome to discuss it with you further. I hope you have good health.

Best regards,
Dr. Heang Chan Raksmey, General and Family Physician

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj