What Chemical Causes Dementia in Patients With End Stage Liver Disease?
Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at
7:25 pm
Torchwood-3 asked:
My friends mom has it and we are trying to figure out what the chemical was that causes it. The doctors said it but we don’t remember. Real medical answers from people who actually know would be greatly appreciated.
Tagged with: dementia • Doctors • Friends Mom
Filed under: Alzheimers
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ammonia levels can be from end stage alcoholism/liver damage, ascites- swollen abd, lactulose used to be given to help lower levels, maybe someone else has another answer.
Jandy is right. When the liver can’t filter out ammonia and other toxins, they build up in the blood stream and affect cognition. The technical term is hepatic encephalopathy
High ammonia levels can cause confusion, forgetfulness, hallucinations, and can cause a person to even become belligerant and violent. They are just not themselves. This is a condition called encephalopathy.
The common drug used to treat this condition is Lactulose.