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Suggest Treatment For Dementia While Having Gastrointestinal Infection
Question: Is it possible to have Dementia without beta amaloid plaques and Neuro tangles...could my mothers gastrointestinal infections be causing her dementia..
Brief Answer:
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Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for coming again to HealthcareMagic. My name is Olsi Taka and I am a medical doctor specialized in Neurology, which makes me I think best qualified to answer your question.
Regarding the first part of your question....dementia is a term which may include many causes. It indicates deterioration of higher cerebral cognitive functions (memory, language, judgement etc), but not the cause. Now the beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are a finding of the most common and well known cause, Alzheimer's disease, but not all dementias are due to Alzheimer's, only about 50% are.
The other 50% are due to other causes, so not necessarily beta amyloid plaques. Such causes may be vascular (repeated strokes and small blood vessel changes), brain trauma, infections, Parkinson's disease, thyroid dysfunction, vitamin B12 deficiency etc. So the answer is yes, you can have dementia without those findings.
As for the gastrointestinal infection query the answer is no, such infections do not cause dementia.
At times when such infections cause dehydration and electrolyte changes (due to diarrhea or vomiting) the brain may suffer and they can exacerbate symptoms in someone with mild dementia and make the clinical picture of dementia evident, but some changes were already there before, not caused by the infection only temporarily worsened by it.
I remain at your disposal for further questions.
Read below
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for coming again to HealthcareMagic. My name is Olsi Taka and I am a medical doctor specialized in Neurology, which makes me I think best qualified to answer your question.
Regarding the first part of your question....dementia is a term which may include many causes. It indicates deterioration of higher cerebral cognitive functions (memory, language, judgement etc), but not the cause. Now the beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are a finding of the most common and well known cause, Alzheimer's disease, but not all dementias are due to Alzheimer's, only about 50% are.
The other 50% are due to other causes, so not necessarily beta amyloid plaques. Such causes may be vascular (repeated strokes and small blood vessel changes), brain trauma, infections, Parkinson's disease, thyroid dysfunction, vitamin B12 deficiency etc. So the answer is yes, you can have dementia without those findings.
As for the gastrointestinal infection query the answer is no, such infections do not cause dementia.
At times when such infections cause dehydration and electrolyte changes (due to diarrhea or vomiting) the brain may suffer and they can exacerbate symptoms in someone with mild dementia and make the clinical picture of dementia evident, but some changes were already there before, not caused by the infection only temporarily worsened by it.
I remain at your disposal for further questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
thank you Dr for your early reply...Can i put it to you this way.. Totally exclude vascular concerns such as tia's and strokes of any size...my mother has been suffering extreme pain due to un diagnosed and untreated diverticulitis and gall bladder disease fistula casing re occurring.utis.her galll bladder has been distended and has had eprgastric pain and incuured closed bowel perforation and extensive abdominal adhesions for 11 months...her pain and delerium.went unchecked for 11 months would this embed a progression of a demented state or would it be only 2% delerium..
Brief Answer:
Read below
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for that additional information. No such conditions do not cause dementia in themselves. However such factors such as infections, dehydration, metabolic imbalance, malnutrition etc they all can predispose worsening of symptoms and precipitate delirium in a predisposed person. The elderly are such predisposed people as the brain does undergo shrinking with age, that is why dementia is more common with age. Apart from the age factor I see from your past question you speak of a sclerotization in the brain. While I should read the report to understand what it might be, it could well be as a result of a past trauma, infection, stroke and it also may be a factor for lower cognitive function.
So what I mean to say is that your mother be it because age related changes, be it due to this sclerotization can have lower cognitive functions. Now even if this lowering is not enough to surpass the limit of dementia, when there are other conditions such as these repeated infections they cause the whole organism to suffer (from fever, malnutrition, dehydration etc which I mentioned) the brain included. So in a person with already lowered capacity this may make it even more difficult to function with the remaining potential and trigger manifestations of dementia such as delirium. But that doesn't mean that they cause dementia, some changes were already there, might be compensated if otherwise in good general health, but such infections make it difficult to compensate and manifest symptoms.
I hope I was understandable enough in my explanation. Feel free to ask other questions.
Read below
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for that additional information. No such conditions do not cause dementia in themselves. However such factors such as infections, dehydration, metabolic imbalance, malnutrition etc they all can predispose worsening of symptoms and precipitate delirium in a predisposed person. The elderly are such predisposed people as the brain does undergo shrinking with age, that is why dementia is more common with age. Apart from the age factor I see from your past question you speak of a sclerotization in the brain. While I should read the report to understand what it might be, it could well be as a result of a past trauma, infection, stroke and it also may be a factor for lower cognitive function.
So what I mean to say is that your mother be it because age related changes, be it due to this sclerotization can have lower cognitive functions. Now even if this lowering is not enough to surpass the limit of dementia, when there are other conditions such as these repeated infections they cause the whole organism to suffer (from fever, malnutrition, dehydration etc which I mentioned) the brain included. So in a person with already lowered capacity this may make it even more difficult to function with the remaining potential and trigger manifestations of dementia such as delirium. But that doesn't mean that they cause dementia, some changes were already there, might be compensated if otherwise in good general health, but such infections make it difficult to compensate and manifest symptoms.
I hope I was understandable enough in my explanation. Feel free to ask other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you Doctor, if you have dementia at a baseline, then you incur dehydration and fever, malnutrition does this you will never return to the baseline your were prior to the infections because you are elderly. In respect to the sclerotization yes I beleive this a result of a small fall but never can be certain would this be the cause of her mild neuro decrease..what is worth noting she has had chronic diarrhea snd constipation and one bout of vomiting..her body weight has reduced from 50 kg to 34 kls..could this be a reason..sorry i need an understanding..
Brief Answer:
Read below
Detailed Answer:
Hello again!
That body weight is really low. I do not know how tall she is, but 34 kg would be low for almost any height. That means that her body is really suffering the effects of those digestive issues and infections. As a result every organ in her body does suffer it, the brain is no exception.
As for the ability to return to baseline, in theory one would say yes, but there are many factors in play.
If there was a baseline cognitive decline which was bound to progress with age it would still not be helped by the bad general health during these 11 months, would continue its progression.
I also wonder if her issues haven't been resolved for 11 month, how much can we hope for them to be definitely resolved now.
In elderly people at times it becomes a vicious circle, the initiating event affects the body's resistance and the organs in the elderly already have a diminished capacity, being so predisposed to other problems being superimposed worsening things further. Medical science tries but not always successful.
So yes you can hope to return to baseline, at least when there is not a clear progressive cause of dementia like Alzheimer's. There is no tool at our disposal unfortunately to make an accurate estimation of that possibility though, but the further the other medical issues persist, the more advanced the patients age the greater the risk of not being able to return to baseline.
Hope things will get better soon.
Read below
Detailed Answer:
Hello again!
That body weight is really low. I do not know how tall she is, but 34 kg would be low for almost any height. That means that her body is really suffering the effects of those digestive issues and infections. As a result every organ in her body does suffer it, the brain is no exception.
As for the ability to return to baseline, in theory one would say yes, but there are many factors in play.
If there was a baseline cognitive decline which was bound to progress with age it would still not be helped by the bad general health during these 11 months, would continue its progression.
I also wonder if her issues haven't been resolved for 11 month, how much can we hope for them to be definitely resolved now.
In elderly people at times it becomes a vicious circle, the initiating event affects the body's resistance and the organs in the elderly already have a diminished capacity, being so predisposed to other problems being superimposed worsening things further. Medical science tries but not always successful.
So yes you can hope to return to baseline, at least when there is not a clear progressive cause of dementia like Alzheimer's. There is no tool at our disposal unfortunately to make an accurate estimation of that possibility though, but the further the other medical issues persist, the more advanced the patients age the greater the risk of not being able to return to baseline.
Hope things will get better soon.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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