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What Causes Drooling In A Person With Congestive Heart Failure?
Question: My husband is 88 years old. He is on permanent oxygen and has a pacemaker. His medications are for congestive heart failure including Lasix. He also has a history of psoriatic arthritis , but is no longer being treated for it. My concern is that he has almost constant drooling and it bothers him more than anything else From my brief description, can you tell what the reason would be for the drooling and is there something he can do to lessen it? Thank you.
Brief Answer:
Cause of drooling in your husband
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX, thanks for asking from HCM.
I can understand your concern. The cause of rolling in your husband can be
- Age related senile degeneration of brain - It is one of the most common cause what I have observed in my clinical practice. Age changes brain chemistry. It loosen your mouth muscles and nerves to control saliva secretion.
- Excessive saliva secretion due to drug side effects - If he is taking any medication which is having cholinergic effects, it can increase his saliva production. It will cause drooling. You can confirm it with his doctor or you can send me the list and I will point it out.
- Facial nerve palsy - You can observe his face, especially angle of mouth. If he is having deviated angle of mouth to one side and drooling is occurring on that side, it means he is having mild facial palsy. It can be age related or due to other causes.
There are other causes like Alzheimer, multi system atrophy, oral infection etc, but they can be suspected only if severely compromised higher mental function like memory loss, abusive behaviour, change in personality.
To control it, try to find root cause after discussing it with treating doctor. If it is neurological in origin, reduce secretion by giving
- Tab Glycopyrolate only after prescription.
It will reduce drooling, but can cause constipation, urinary retention.
You can also take help of physiotherapist to strengthen facial muscles. It will control drooling.
Get his oral cavity examination done to rule out any infection. It it is, treatment of it, will control the symptoms.
Hope it will help you. If still any doubt, do let me know. I will be happy to help you.
Thanks. Take care.
Cause of drooling in your husband
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX, thanks for asking from HCM.
I can understand your concern. The cause of rolling in your husband can be
- Age related senile degeneration of brain - It is one of the most common cause what I have observed in my clinical practice. Age changes brain chemistry. It loosen your mouth muscles and nerves to control saliva secretion.
- Excessive saliva secretion due to drug side effects - If he is taking any medication which is having cholinergic effects, it can increase his saliva production. It will cause drooling. You can confirm it with his doctor or you can send me the list and I will point it out.
- Facial nerve palsy - You can observe his face, especially angle of mouth. If he is having deviated angle of mouth to one side and drooling is occurring on that side, it means he is having mild facial palsy. It can be age related or due to other causes.
There are other causes like Alzheimer, multi system atrophy, oral infection etc, but they can be suspected only if severely compromised higher mental function like memory loss, abusive behaviour, change in personality.
To control it, try to find root cause after discussing it with treating doctor. If it is neurological in origin, reduce secretion by giving
- Tab Glycopyrolate only after prescription.
It will reduce drooling, but can cause constipation, urinary retention.
You can also take help of physiotherapist to strengthen facial muscles. It will control drooling.
Get his oral cavity examination done to rule out any infection. It it is, treatment of it, will control the symptoms.
Hope it will help you. If still any doubt, do let me know. I will be happy to help you.
Thanks. Take care.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
Answered by
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