3 ms·

confused old people die from paracetamol overdoses. this helps reduce that, afaik (no evidence to hand, but read up on painkillers not long ago as i needed to

• flatline 14y ago
  My mom has Alzheimer's, and recently started hallucinating. After several (!) trips to the ER and doctor, someone finally thought to do a blood test, and found that she had a severe sodium|potassium deficiency (now I don't remember which). Turns out she was thirsty due to the dry climate and it being winter, and she kept drinking water, forgetting that she had just finished a glass, which led to the mineral deficiency, which caused the hallucinations. I can't imagine how hard it would to control be if she was taking painkillers on an as-needed basis for a long time. People with dementia are often surprisingly clever and resourceful, considering the disease.
  • Evbn 14y ago
    Dementia is a bug in the program. The program is powerful, and the bug is a small change that makes it powerfully wrong. It is amazing that someone could drink that much water, without a restroom bream or just not feeling thirsty anymore. But I can imagine overdrinking over a course of days in response to feeling dryness, and not realizing that she is overdoing it.