People with dementia are more susceptible to dehydration for a number of reasons. For one, if the person living with dementia is an older adult, they naturally have less water reserves in their body, which makes it easier for them to get dehydrated. Also, because of issues with memory loss, decreased ability to initiate tasks independently, and impaired thirst signals from the brain, the person may not remember to drink regularly. The person may even have difficulty drinking if they are at a stage where their swallowing is impaired. When a person has difficulty swallowing you may notice they start avoiding things that have caused them problems in the past. Some people with dementia are also on medications that make them more likely to urinate and therefore leave them dehydrated as well. And, the list goes on..
Now, dehydration is a big deal because EVERY cell and organ in the human body depends on water to function properly and do it's drop.
Water helps us to be able to:
and so much more...
The brain is very sensitive to dehydration. In fact, studies show that a person only needs to be 1% dehydrated to experience a 5% decrease in cognitive function. This can explain much of the changing symptoms we see in our partners, especially during the summer months. You may notice, increased confusion, decreased attention span, worsening short-term memory, increased anxiety and/or depression. So, yeah — it's a pretty big deal.
So, what are some ways we can help keep our partner hydrated?
These are just a few ideas to help keep your partner hydrated throughout the year, but especially during the hot summer months.
To learn more about this topic, check out another blog post we did on dehydration & dementia here.
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