Re: causes of hallucinations; what is fluctuating cognition?

[Guest guest]

Sherri,

There are many causes of hallucinations -- infection, metabolic imbalance,

medication, delirium, visual dysfunction (such as Bonnet Syndrome),

mental disease (such as schizophrenia), neurological disease, etc. One

neurological disease that includes hallucinations is late-stage Alzheimer's.

As for fluctuating cognition, the best guide is the " Mayo Fluctuations Scale. "

The scale asks the primary caregiver about the patient's daytime lethargy,

daytime (before 7pm) sleeping for more than 2 hours, staring into space for long

periods, ability to focus, disorganized flow of ideas, etc. You can deduce the

scale here:

http://www.neurology.org/content/suppl/2004/02/10/62.2.181.DC1

(click on E1)

(As you can see from that document, fluctuating cognition occurs in AD as well!)

This article I posted to the LBDA Forum awhile back indicates that DLB is

probable if someone answers " yes " to three or more questions on the Mayo

Fluctuations Scale:

http://community.lbda.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1 & t=863

Robin

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>

> Robin,

> ...Do you know other reasons for hallucinations. My mom does have

hallucinations (that sound like they type described for LBD) and maybe some

fluctating cognition but for the most part still seems so normal. She has

always been over-dramatic in describing things, so it is hard for me to discern

whether she is really experiencing fluctuating cognition. I tend to see any

differences to be related whether she is in a good mood (always the case when

she is busy and active) or a bad mood (depressed because she is lonely). Can

you help me understand a little bit better about what fluctuating cognition

" looks " like and/or how I might figure out if she is really experiencing this or

just experiencing normal variations.

>

> Thanks again for your insight.

> Sherri

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