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I have wondered about this. The classic picture seems to be a broken hip from a fall, and then worsening or dementia after the surgery.
I had an elderly dog who had to have life-saving surgery, recovered fine and started biting me out of the blue. I wondered if the anesthesia rattled his brain in some way.
There's one more reason to stay away from elective surgery once you reach a certain age. A broken hip can't be helped without surgery but other things that aren't exactly necessary might be good to be avoided.
Obviously not every older person will get dementia but all those memory games, supplements and new exercise programs started past a certain age will not keep it at bay, especially if it runs in your family. I'm SOL as my grandmother, my mother and all 4 of her siblings got it.
I have wondered about this. The classic picture seems to be a broken hip from a fall, and then worsening or dementia after the surgery.
I had an elderly dog who had to have life-saving surgery, recovered fine and started biting me out of the blue. I wondered if the anesthesia rattled his brain in some way.
There is a fair amount of evidence that the hip breaks, causing the fall.
General anesthesia can cause memory issues for sure, as can heart lung machines used during cardiac bypass operations - several of my older friends have talked about that. As patients get older, the risks of sedation in general increase. My Dad swore he would never undergo general anesthesia after he turned 80, and he held to that. Didn't stop the dementia he had when he died of a heart attack, though.
You be the judge, but the book Grain Brain, makes a case that eating wheat and other grains can lead to Alzheimers. Written and research by a neurologist so carries some weight...l
In which case, 95% of the people in the history of the world would have gotten Alzheimers.
Wheat is what created Russia, Europe, the USA and many other places. Some pretty smart people came out of wheat eating societies!
On these breaks and surgery etc. I went thru hip replacement in 2010, just before hip job I had gotten my Vit D to 80, this took quite a few months, many. I was reading that surgeries can cause Vit D levels to drop and sure enough after surgery and subsequent labs, my D levels dropped 40 pts. So I've been working to get back up there as I felt great at 80 and now I'm hanging at about 53. I never looked at the Vit D and dementia connection, so that might be something to look at. I know Millions in the U.S. are deficient and those rehabs and senior homes are full of Vit D deficient seniors.
This from Vit D Council. There are more info links too on this connection.
Mayo's D recommendation is very low. I take 5K some days, and 10K some days with K2 for absorption.
Regardless, Vit D deficiency needs to be corrected.
While there are studies showing links between dementia and vitamin D deficiency, there are also many studies showing that vit D supplements either do nothing or can be dangerous at high doses
While several studies in normal people failed to find any protective effects from vitamin D, others have been more worrying. One 2015 randomised study of 409 elderly people in Finland suggested that vitamin D failed to offer any benefits compared to placebo or exercise - and that fracture rates were, in fact, slightly higher.
The usual prescribed dose in most countries is 800 to 1,000 units per day (so 24,000-30,000 units per month). However, two randomised trials found that at around 40,000 to 60,000 units per month Vitamin D effectively became a dangerous substance.
One study involving over 2,000 elderly Australians, which was largely ignored at the time, and the one just published found that patients given high doses of vitamin D or those on lower doses that increased vitamin D blood levels within the optimal range (as defined by bone specialists) had a 20-30% increased rate of fractures and falls compared to those on low doses or who failed to reach "optimal blood levels".
I would rather getting plenty of Vitamin D by the natural method of being outdoor than popping pills! Too much of a good thing especially through artificial means = bad thing to your body!!!
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