Do you have any idea what drugs or conditions she was being treated for? Certainly overuse of drugs over time, whether intentional or accidental, can lead to symptoms of dementia. The most common drugs that cause this are barbituates, sleeping pills, and tranquilizers, and drugs with anticholinergic side effects (such as those that result in dry mouth, constipation, and sedation) also cause symptoms of dementia. However, discontinuing the drug usually reverses these symptoms of dementia. All of the following are listed as substances that can cause dementia (from http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/dementia/side-effects.htm):
Of course, there are many other possible (and more likely) causes of dementia in the elderly:
- Alzheimer's
- Vascular dementia
- Lewy Body Disease
- Parkinson's Disease
- Huntington Disease
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
- Pick Disease
- Head injury
- Infection or illness
- Hydrocephalus
- Brain growths or tumors
- Metabolic disorders
- Hormone disorders
- Poor oxygenation
- Nutritional deficiences
For further description of these causes see http://www.emedicinehealth.com/dementia_overview/page2_em.htm. Ideally, she should undergo further diagnostic tests such as blood and urinalysis, CT, EEG, and congition function measures to determine the cause and best line of treatment, as this will depend on the nature of the problem.
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