# Transient dementia in the elderly... my dad **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001 "2011-10-27T20:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/21 "2011-10-28T17:33:49Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > What you are describing is transient delirium and not dementia (which as you said is indolent and not waxing/waning). [Here](http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/499458)is some information on both diagnoses. > > ETA: IAAD, but I’m not your father’s doctor. Thank you for the distinction! I can’t read Medscape however, because IA_ **not** _AD and they won’t let me in. Poo. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/22 "2011-10-28T17:47:11Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Your stepmother sounds like a stellar woman and I hope she’s also been a hot babe trophy wife to him. 😛 Good luck. Funny you should say that, since she definitely had her [moments…](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Zm6JXvXXze4/R209hFPP8sI/AAAAAAAAAW8/UUoeqAlWaxg/s1600/campaign.jpg) (One of her campaign posters: she was the Libertarian candidate for Lt. Gov. of California in the late 80’s -these days when she’s not caring for dad she makes genuinely spectacular Halloween wreaths. [Pictures](http://www.normajeangifts.com/halloweenwreaths2007.html) don’t do them a bit of justice. ) She _worships_ my father and cares for him without complaint. For which I am deeply grateful. Because I worship my father, too, but I couldn’t do what she does for a host of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/23 "2011-10-28T18:16:33Z")
roflmao Tell me that’s not your stepmom. (Your dad’s just TIRED.) Those wreaths are awesome BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/24 "2011-10-28T18:42:30Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > roflmao Tell me that’s not your stepmom. (Your dad’s just TIRED.) Those wreaths are awesome BTW. That’s her. She’s a trip. So’s my dad. And thanks about the wreaths. They really are, you should see them in person, the craftsmanship is exquisite and every doll is completely original, unique and handmade in every detail. Same thing for her [OJ Trial Chess Set.](http://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/celebrities/oj-trial-of-the-century-chess-set) ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/25 "2011-10-28T22:36:48Z")
Wow. Not only is she very, very talented, I vote for you as possibly having the best set of parents ever. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/26 "2011-10-29T00:15:32Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Wow. Not only is she very, very talented, I vote for you as possibly having the best set of parents ever. Assuming you dug a little deeper and got the bigger picture, here’s the kicker: my real mother was an ordained minister in the Church of Religious Science. :eek: it’s one of those things that would be rejected as too far-fetched if it were written as fiction. ---
**Author:** ![syncope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@syncope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncope)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/27 "2011-10-29T05:51:04Z")
(BG: I am an RN) If your dad is essentially bedbound, he is at very high risk of developed deep vein thromboses (DVT’s) in his legs. Clots in the legs can cause tiny clots to shower to the brain, causing strokes or TIA’s (transient ischemic attacks, or “mini-strokes”). Your dad’s symptoms sound like TIA’s to me. Has he had dopplers done of his lower extemities (translation: ultrasound of his legs) to see if he has any clots? This is a painless and simple procedure. If a patient has DVT’s, it may be appropriate to have a Greenfield filter placed. This is like a little colander that’s placed in the main vein to the heart, to catch any clots that come up from the legs. I don’t know if the VA’s computer system is up to par. I know that where I work, we can easily access our patients’ records, and our care definitely benefits from this. Knowing that your dad is mostly bedbound would lead me to ask the doctor for venous dopplers if he didn’t think of it himself. IMO, venous dopplers would be the very first thing to be done, and then you can go from there. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/28 "2011-10-29T06:19:17Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Thank you for the distinction! I can’t read Medscape however, because IA_ **not** _AD and they won’t let me in. Poo. Sorry about that; at least you have some terminology to google, if you want more information. > [@syncope](#): > > (BG: I am an RN) > > If your dad is essentially bedbound, he is at very high risk of developed deep vein thromboses (DVT’s) in his legs. Clots in the legs can cause tiny clots to shower to the brain, causing strokes or TIA’s (transient ischemic attacks, or “mini-strokes”). This is incorrect except in exceedingly rare cases. DVTs are in the venous circulation and will be filtered out by the lungs (pulmonary emobolus) unless there is a septal defect in the heart to allow the embolus to cross into the arterial circulation. I agree that the symptoms could be ischemic in etiology; I disagree that DVT is a likely source. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/29 "2011-10-30T05:23:15Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Assuming you dug a little deeper and got the bigger picture, here’s the kicker: my real mother was an ordained minister in the Church of Religious Science. > > :eek: > > it’s one of those things that would be rejected as too far-fetched if it were written as fiction. …It can’t be rejected if you put it in an autobiography. lol ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/30 "2011-10-30T06:23:49Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Thank you for the distinction! I can’t read Medscape however, because IA_ **not** _AD and they won’t let me in. Poo. I’m not a doctor either, but I just filled out the registration information and they let me in. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001/31 "2011-10-30T07:02:05Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I’m not a doctor either, but I just filled out the registration information and they let me in. Seriously?? That’s fantastic! I will have to give that a whirl, thanks! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transient-dementia-in-the-elderly-my-dad/601001.md?page=1)