Not long ago, I posted about Mom being rushed to the hospital because she wouldn’t wake up, no matter how they tried waking her. Of course, some thought she was faking it, but knowing her, as I do, I seriously doubted this was the case. I kept wondering what could have been the cause of such an episode, as there was nothing found by the tests run by doctors, nor have there been any other such events. So, what might have happened? And how common is this among dementia patients?
First of all, I began to look for anything related to temporary loss of consciousness and dementia. I found a great deal of information to wade through which was wonderful, but I still couldn’t be sure what the root cause was. Finally, after reading many of the articles, I was able to begin piecing pieces of the puzzle together, but as I am not very medically inclined I’m still a bit at sea - however, I do have more information than before and can begin an intelligent conversation with the nurses and doctors, or so I’d like to believe.
According to an article on Cigna.com (Confusion, Memory Loss, and Altered Alertness) there is a variety of variables which can lead to a loss of alertness which can then lead to a temporary loss of consciousness. These include drugs, disease, alcohol, medical conditions, and others - even dehydration (which seems to be something caregivers need to be watchful for especially with the elderly and dementia patients). According to the article, too (and supported by others) the patient will awaken without any ill effects or knowledge of anything happened. Odd, huh!
Another cause of what we will call Transient Loss of Consciousness (T-LoC) could be mini-strokes (also called TIA’s, or Transient Ischemic Attacks) which affect blood flow to the brain temporarily. For all we know, at this time, there is no evidence this was the cause of Mother’s event, but others have been known to have these TIA’s occur rather frequently, which advances their dementia and decreases their abilities.
In reading an article in Nursing Times, (Transient loss of consciousness 1: causes and impact of …), the cause of the problem is a temporary cessation of blood flow to the brain, and T-LoC’s account for approximately 1% of hospital admissions, even though roughly 50% of the population will experience them at one time or another - fainting at the sight of blood would cause for such an experience, or any other type of faint. These events tend to be rather short-lived and are called Syncopes - for Mom this makes sense (Faint/Collapse) . She has had a history of low blood pressure in the past (but it’s been nearly 20 years since she was rushed to the ER with such an issue). It definitely wasn’t Epilepsy, which is a neurological form of syncope.
Another cause for such episodes, though, could be from traumatic brain injury, as seen in many pro-athletes who have later been diagnosed with dementia; these athletes have also been known to have syncope and other problems due to persistent head trauma during their careers years earlier (Hard Knocks The Science of Concussions). Could that auto accident around New Year’s in 1964 have created the template for something like this? No doctors have ever remarked on Mom’s brain scans showing any evidence of trauma - or maybe it was because it wasn’t readily evident on the surface and there was no reason for anyone to ask. It’s worth inquiring.
Mom didn’t have a subdural hematoma, either. Connie, her friend, suffered this after she fell in the hallway at St. A’s, and she was treated (hopefully successfully) for this ( Subdural Hematoma Guide: Causes, Symptoms and …).
There is also the other great cause for concern, should the event be caused by underlying heart issues (Temporary loss of consciousness). The doctors at the ER checked all these and the above in Mom to ensure these were not the cause. For that I’m grateful.
And yet, after running all those tests, they could not provide me with a modicum of possibilities at the time - they were as baffled as am I. So, for now, I can simply believe Mom suffered a form of syncope caused by a bout of low blood pressure. I’ve no reason to believe anything else...
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