Dementia by Whatever Name
 “George Carlin has spent 50 years making us laugh, but more importantly he has spent 50 years making us think.” Sonny Fox - 2006 Prementia  “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” George Carlin George Carlin has title status in this book for several reasons: • Because he made a number of profound statements over the years about the mind – his and others. • Because he caused his audiences to think as well as laugh and heal – and can help us do the same several years after his death. • Because audiences’ minds were his playground and here he can touch a new audience with valuable ideas, information, and insights. • Because George admittedly went through numbers of demented experiences in his own lifetime. • Because Carlin’s humor will also help give the reader breaks from the relatively weighty subjects which are addressed in these pages. George’s fellow comedian Lewis Black wrote that, “After his death, he became more than just a man. His name became synonymous with a change in consciousness. His words gave us, then and now, a way to see the world. He has been missed every day by countless folks everywhere looking for a really hard laugh at the darkest possible moments.” Carlin parted his body in 2008. But to some people, it may feel like he never really left us. He is venerated by folks on the right and the left. A two-part HBO documentary, “George Carlin’s American Dream,” was broadcast as recently as 2022. Another comedian, Bill Burr, has said that when he spoke, “you always felt like you were hearing the truth, or his truth. He was giving you the truth of what he felt, which most of us don’t do.” Even now, George Carlin – who liked “to bother people” – can help give us moments to look more acutely and astutely at common states of mind which we can collectively consider as Losses of Consciousness from higher and wider perspectives. Then we may – • Look beyond the brain and nerves • Consider whole people rather than just sick bodies • Address the importance of Mind and Soul • Contemplate the range of states of consciousness • Ponder on the power of drugs and alcohol on consciousness • Learn from illness as an effect of human nature • Open to recovery and restoration from mental ills – HEALING Dementia and Rementia
 “If ever I lose my mind, I hope some honest person will find it and take it to Lost and Found.” George Carlin If George were still in the body, he would happily help enliven the ideas to be shared in this book – as well as to reiterate some of his own pithy and penetrating thoughts. George was addicted to words, as well as to other more physically stimulating “substances.” Carlin certainly could imagine ways to “dig” into the mind, to hustle memories, to bring thoughts to life, and search for values in the challenging worlds in and around us. George Carlin (1937-2008) was an American actor and comedian, philosopher and satirist. He was a prominent figure in television and stand-up comedy for decades. Carlin was the most successful comedian in HBO history. Furthermore, he garnered five Grammy Awards and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. George was a “counterculture hero” and “mouthpiece” for many Americans who looked for someone to tell “their story.” His daughter suggested that “he was everyman on [that] stage.” Carlin thought of himself as “a consummate showoff” from his earliest years. Along with spreading “seven dirty words,” Carlin tried to give the impression to audiences as being something of a wise guy and know-it-all. But, he had a number of other less obvious sides to his “two-tiered personality” which fit well with the topic of this little book. George admitted to being “schizophrenic” at times. Carlin revealed that, “Though I have this other alien creature inside that wants to get out, most of me is just pure hambone-entertainer child-showoff.” ~~~~~~~
While exploring the spectrum of ills fitting the name of Dementia, George Carlin and this writer wish to add a new word – Rementia – to the western dictionary. This whole book revolves around rethinking human minds, their lives and their ills. The intention is to lead us to the idea and possibility of Rementia. We start by offering practical but rarely considered ways to view how the human mind works. The mind is obviously under broad assault in the present time as mental illness appears to be more and more common. There is much need for clearer understanding of Dementia and Rementia: loss and recovery of Mind-Consciousness. At the same time, this book is intended to go beyond modern medical teaching which equates mind and brain. Then take a broader perspective to explain, as far as reasonably possible, how the human being is intended to function as body, mind, and soul expressing wholeness. As that is done, we will see how the mind wonderfully governs the body. At the same time, we will gain some understanding of how mind can get disconnected and consciousness be lost to one degree or another. Readers will learn things not yet taught in medical schools; but which will be part of common knowledge of future generations – including doctors. These simple yet fundamental ideas have not penetrated into materialistic medical thought and training. Simplicity is one of the goals of this book – regardless of the wide range of problems covered. They affect many millions in the USA and around the world. These ills need no longer be addressed through complication upon complication. Humans create those complications. But, we can replace them with simples and simplicity. True healing is ultimately a simple process. We should add that some explanations given in this book are in fact oversimplified. Readers who have studied beyond orthodox medical texts may notice that only three aspects of human beings are discussed. We consider only the physical form, the mental field, and the soul – when these are really subject to further divisions for various purposes. Chakras, or centers of consciousness, are only mentioned in passing. Again, our endeavor is to simplify rather than complicate. References can be consulted by those who wish to “dig deeper.” Many of the ideas presented here have been known in the East for millennia and in the West since Plato and Pythagoras held classes under the plane trees of Greece. Others are borrowed from or mimic the works of Biblical healers as well as the greatest healers of intervening centuries. Much of this composition revolves around stories of human ills and challenges. Until recently, retelling of individual illnesses – case studies – has been largely avoided and even denigrated in medical circles as being “unscientific.” But, we think science and knowledge certainly can be gained personally and collectively through the use of individual experiences. Stories can assist the teaching-learning process in many ways. So, this book draws freely on stories to develop and support its premises, to carry ideas along through the broad spectrum of Dementia toward Rementia, as well as to hold the reader’s attention. The bulk of the stories are drawn from the lives of celebrities – movie and television stars, politicians and authors whose faces and names are at least somewhat known to the public. Showing – as well as telling – will help “bring home” concepts shared in the text. Thus, the reader may say a few times, “I know about that person and some of his story. This helps me understand him better. Maybe that can help me understand my family and friends, and even myself.” A few personal stories from the author’s own life also appear along the way – to explain and to get even closer to real-life, personal, day-to-day experience. “Knowledge is power” and experience surely can add layers to that power here and now. The intent reader will, in the course of these interrelating stories, come to his/her own revelations on Minds: Lost and Found. Your comments, theories and queries are invited. Send them to theportableschool @ gmail dot com. Chapter 1
Dementia by Whatever Name  Burns & Carlin “I must be getting absent-minded. Whenever I complain that things aren’t the way they used to be, I always forget to include myself.” George Burns Interestingly, George Carlin started in comedy with another Burns – Jack Burns. They debuted on The Tonight Show in 1960. Their partnership was short lived. Jack went on to team up with Avery Schreiber. Carlin never worked with the other Burns – the first great George of American comedy. His teammates appear to have – alternately and sometimes simultaneously – been his own split mind and plentiful drugs. One might wonder which played the larger role for George Carlin: his drug usage or his split – divided mind. Drugs and alcohol played large roles in George Carlin’s life, as they do in many, many other human lives. They are very relevant to the thesis of this book, because drugs and alcohol are commonly implicated as causes or contributing factors in almost every kind of dementia. Discussion of drugs will appear in sundry ways in coming pages. We cannot stress too much how large and continuing are the effects of intoxicants and medications upon the human mind. It bears being repeated that drugs of all kinds – legal and illegal, medically and personally prescribed – tend to disturb and disrupt the mind-body connection. Carlin admitted to drinking beer and using pot most every day during the 60s – that practice had its beginnings in his early teen years. It’s no wonder he was kicked out of public school, leaving in the ninth grade. George also had a brief tour with the United States Air Force as a radar technician. He was given an early release, but not for good behavior. Inevitably, Mr. Carlin had many, many varying experiences of mild to even dramatic and frightening demented moments in his life. Surely, he fainted a few times; undoubtedly, George passed out dozens if not hundreds of times over the course of his life. Those episodes were similar in effect if not the causes of faints and swoons which affected our forebears generations ago. People swooned and fainted when overwhelmed by fear, sorrow or pain as well as by intoxicants. But before the reign of medical technology, they then were allowed to lay still until they returned to consciousness, took up their pallets – so to speak – and go back to their business. In the present world, neither men nor women are permitted to pass out – unless from drugs or alcohol – without being rushed to the hospital for “medical evaluation.” Medics then do cursory exams followed by a host of scans, xrays, and blood testing. In a similar vein, medical practitioners deal with countless other “neurological” ills involving loss of consciousness covering periods of moments to years. Their efforts generally demonstrate a relative lack of understanding of the wonderful human organism in sickness as well as in health. Because most doctors look at human beings as totally material, physical, tangible forms. Considered from that angle, we can begin to understand the impotence of the medical profession drawn large in the millions of our fellows who continue to experience these ills. We must learn to see humans as the multi-dimensional beings which they are. Then, we will have the opportunity to understand to a greater or lesser degree how each of us is built “in the image and likeness of God.” At the same time, we will be pointed to causes as well as possibilities for recovery from so many ills which are yet hidden in darkness. Many such ills are suppressed by powerful drugs, and thus prevent friends and neighbors from living fuller, healthier, happier, more productive lives. That even while drugs predispose and precipitate insidious or obvious states of dementia. The reader should be aware that there over a million “serious adverse drug reactions” reported every year in the USA. [How many more are never reported is beyond speculation.] At the same time, it is estimated that 175,000 Americans die every year from ADRs. As we seek to move from Dementia to Rementia, let’s begin with a quick overview of the spectrum of ills and ailments which people now experience as losses of consciousness: Episodes of people passing out are so common as to be laughable. Yes, thousands of humans faint or pass out every day everywhere – most often due to alcohol inebriation and drug intoxication. We accept this in our fellows – even in ourselves – although we don’t really understand what happens in such spells – regardless of obvious causes. We can excuse the drunk or drugged for going away for moments or minutes. But if John Doe or Mary Smith experiences a shock or a scare and faints in front of us, we are aghast and almost always yell for help. “Call 911.” Convulsions, seizures, and epileptic fits are not so common, but much more disturbing than simple drunken spells. These states occur for all sorts of reasons dependent on time, place and person. Believe it or not, some humans can inexorably move into that mindless state by giving away pieces of mind. How can we do that? This is another large question waiting to be answered. There are many similar ones which we will address along the way from Dementia to Rementia. More commonly, most of us have gone through difficult, challenging periods in our lives. We have felt oppressed, suppressed, repressed, depressed to the point of being overwhelmed. Whatever the pressure or weakness, many of us have come to say or think at least a time or two: “I must be losing my mind.” Hopefully, we didn’t lose our mind. Even if we felt like it, our mind is always nearby and quite recoverable if we look for it. On the other hand, we all must know friends, family members or neighbors who have in fact lost their minds. Fortunately, the lost can often be found again. Then, there are the dreamers like my younger brother. That Sagittarian has often been lost in thought and reverie, imagining some relatively unachievable, unrealistic possibility. Dreaming and imagining are wonderful human capacities – and can lead us to joyous and valuable states. But in day-to-day life, we need to practice “keeping our feet on the ground.” There are numbers who appear to be lost in the clouds day in and day out. The writer remembers a nursing assistant at a clinic in Arizona many years ago who cheerfully shared that “I am blissed out most of the time.” She must have enjoyed her “trips,” but her work sometimes showed the side effects of her blissful state. We call similar folks – air heads or space cadets, and speak of them as being light-headed. We then equate mind, brain and head – of which more later. We all have had an encounter, looked at someone and thought, “No one’s home.” He must be AWOL - Absent Without Leave! Then, we have wondered, “Where did he go?” “Oh, far away. Gone man, gone.” We have known meditators somewhat like the young woman just mentioned who appeared in zen mode. In fact, meditation as commonly taught and practiced intends to free its practitioners from bodily and emotional discomforts as well as raise them into states of higher mind. As such, an accomplished meditator may appear mindless while in meditative practice, but in fact that person is likely more mindful than most folks. Even closer to home, we might wonder when we look at ourselves in the mirror, “Who’s there? Is anybody home?” A similar view is appropriate especially with mentally challenged individuals in the likes of morons and imbeciles. We might think, “Somebody is home. But just barely.” Still, our weak-minded fellows often manage their lives quite well. Their challenges are qualitatively different than others on our list and call for further explanation.
“Roses are red, violets are blue.
I’m schizophrenic – and so am I.” Anonymous Insanity or madness comes in many guises. Like other ills mentioned, it can change and morph in many ways. A whole other dimension comes into the question when we consider people labeled insane or possessed. It may appear that someone is at home, but we may wonder exactly who is there? Could there be more than one? More on this topic later. Trauma and shock – physical, emotional, and mental – can have large effects upon the human psyche. Here we commonly recognize soldiers back from combat, torn apart by fatigue, stress and injury applied in several dimensions. Their symptoms may cover a wide spectrum, most particularly ones of the relatively mindless type. It seems that the western world is in the midst of an epidemic of dementia. But it is not just the kind common to the elderly. Dementia, as we have already seen, comes in a wide variety of forms. Even some transitory “losses of mind,” which were in prior eras taken as common parts of life, have come to the fore to cause more anxiety and to be tested and treated. Along the way, fear is then added as another layer to patient and family worries. Speaking of medical involvement, we must not forget the powerful mind altering effects of modern anesthesia used in surgical procedures. No Mind in patients certainly reigns as technicians administer general anesthetics during operations. The human form can then be violently probed and cut or electrically shocked with minimal apparent response from the subject. Patients are tightly monitored on their excursions Out Of Body for fear their medication might be overdone.
“People say, ‘I’m going to sleep now,’
as if it were nothing. But it's really a bizarre activity. ‘For the next several hours, while the sun is gone, I'm going to become unconscious, temporarily losing command over everything I know and understand. When the sun returns, I will resume my life.’” George Carlin There are two more very common Mindless states which we all experience and think we understand from one angle or another. Sleep is the state where the mind separates on a regular, natural basis from the body for a period of hours. Indeed, sleep is the most common Out-of-Body Experience. We all have undergone OOBE many thousands of times. We return into waking consciousness – sometimes groggy, foggy, and disconnected. Then, mind and body gradually mesh together for another round-the-clock cycle. While most of us forget our experiences away from the body during the hours of sleep. “Clairvoyant observation bears abundant testimony to the fact that when a man falls into deep slumber the higher principles of the astral vehicle almost invariably withdraw from the body, and hover in its immediate neighbourhood. Indeed, it is the process of this withdrawal that we commonly call ‘Going to sleep.’” (CW Leadbeater, Dreams) Sleep is a fundamental aspect of life and at the same time the epitome of Loss of Consciousness. There are numerous laboratories around the country devoted to Sleep Studies which seek to put sleep into Neuroscience language. Unfortunately without understanding of the brain-mind intimacy, sleep remains a relative mystery to medics. As a simple step to inner knowledge, we can compare Sleep to Death. Death then is “just” a variation on sleep. Death occurs when the subtle energetic cord which connects mind to body during rest cycles is broken and the soul-mind or whole inner being is permanently released from the outer physical form. Books and commentaries on Near-Death Experiences (NDE) can reveal much information of value to us on this subject. Reader Advice: If you should read books or articles about Near-Death or Out-of-Body Experiences, do not let yourself get lost in the details of any single person’s experience. There are limitless states of consciousness one can enter on leaving the body which again depend on time, place and person.
Chapter 2
Medical View of Dementia  “Isn’t it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do ‘practice’?” George Carlin George Carlin was a thinking man as well as a mouthpiece. [He seemed to consider thoughts to be Brain Droppings.] He thought of himself first a writer – of WORDS, and second as a comedian – of SOCIAL COMMENTARY. George always had pens and pads near at hand to receive the ideas which came to him. George made commentary about almost every aspect of modern life. He reveled in the euphemisms that we use to avoid saying spouting ideas and information. Carlin was a veritable encyclopedia. “The truth is, I can’t run out of ideas – not as long as I keep getting new information and I can keep processing it…. The ideas, voices, and words were often there regardless of sobriety or inebriation.” Interestingly, Carlin had little to say about medicine and doctors – while he did have comments about sickness, germs, and how humans perceive and deal with them. Maybe George left medicine alone because he felt “out of his league” as well as beholden to the medical profession. Carlin passed through a number of heart ailments over thirty years and associated medical procedures in his life. He died at age 71 of heart failure. It has been suggested that his bodily ills may have resulted in part from his long and intense usage of cocaine. Nonetheless, our “reborn” comic-philosopher can help us think out the factual state of mind-body connections which seem to largely elude physician and public study. We have briefly reviewed a spectrum of experience fittingly called Loss of Consciousness. Consciousness being a state of awareness experienced by us humans through the power of Mind. Consciousness and Mind are almost synonymous. Their relationships will be made clearer over the course of this book. Let us now look at Loss of Consciousness from the view of medics who are confronted with patients in such states in daily practice. We will review them briefly as doctors see them, consider them, and write about them in current terminology to allow for broader view. Then, we will go into deeper perspective from a more holistic angle.
Amentia.
To be complete in our exploration of Dementia, we must begin with Amentia. We might well have passed over Amentia because it is not an illness, injury or disease. Amentia is another name for Autism, referring to severe mental disability from birth. This Lack rather than Loss of Consciousness is medically considered to be caused by differences in the brain which are said to be “comprehensive throughout the cerebral cortex rather than just particular areas thought to affect social behavior and language.” Such an explanation is unprovable and indefensible. It betrays medical ignorance in an attempt to materialize Amentia. On the other hand, the explanation tends to bolster our recurring and fundamental proposition that most mental ills are founded on differences, changes, injuries, and debilitation of mind and not on any brain pathology. Those with Amentia or Autism start their lives with imperfect connection of the mind with brain and body. Alternatively, they are born with weakly developed mental forces. From the beginning, the Autistic have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. The Autistic are in fact Demented from birth. This state of Mind is estimated to occur in 1 in 100 children in the present day.
Fainting.
Syncope is the technical name for fainting or passing out which is simply a brief, unexpected or unintended loss of consciousness. Medics believe that it is most commonly caused by a sudden change in the blood flow to the brain. Typical symptoms of syncope that may occur before someone loses consciousness include dizziness, urge to vomit, blurring of vision, and clammy skin. Fainting episodes may last for a minute or two followed by a normal state. Syncope can happen at any age, but occurs most often in seniors. Incidence of fainting or syncope in the population is very difficult to measure for a host of reasons. The most notable one is that the majority of episodes occur away from medical attention and are never reported. Interestingly, most medical literature makes no reference to fainting being caused by simple emotional stress or physical distraction.
Stroke.
Strokes which affect approximately 800,000 Americans every year are said to have two general causes: ischemic (from decreased blood flow to the brain) and hemorrhagic (from bleeding or rupture of a blood vessel). The former is TEN times more common than the latter. Ischemic strokes border on “mini-strokes” or transient ischemic attacks (TIA). A TIA is considered to be a brief interruption of blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or retina, which may cause temporary stroke-like symptoms but does not damage brain cells or cause permanent disability. Symptoms of TIA last only a few minutes to several hours. Those symptoms are similar to those of a stroke as well as episodes of syncope: numbness or muscle weakness, difficulty speaking or understanding speech, dizziness or loss of balance, double vision or difficulty seeing. TIAs might be considered to be episodes of prolonged syncope. Like many others, one form of dementia blends into another. Hemorrhagic strokes appear dramatically as weakness and/or paralysis of a limb, difficulty speaking and communicating, memory loss, emotional distress and depression.
Seizures.
Epilepsy is characterized according to physicians by sudden changes in the electrical-nervous and muscular systems of the body. These seizures or convulsions are categorized in three major forms: • Petit mal is indicated by a few seconds of blinking or staring • Grand mal is designated by generalized muscular jerks or rigid muscles • Psychomotor appears as repetitious, poorly coordinated and purposeless movements Three to four million Americans suffer with epilepsy. One hundred thousand new cases are diagnosed each year and the numbers are said to be increasing. Despite advances in modern orthodox medicine, doctors generally admit to being baffled by epileptic seizures: “Many physicians will find it curious, indeed almost comic, that neurology should be concerned with the treatment of an important entity (epilepsy) when it has little or no idea of its cause. The plain fact is that the very nature of the nervous system and this particular manifestation of nervous disease have defied analysis.” (Raymond Adams, M.D., in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine)
Concussion.
Medical experts describe a concussion as a type of traumatic brain injury – or TBI – “caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth.” Signs of a concussion can be headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, confusion, sluggishness, etc. Concussion is specifically defined as resulting from some sort of blow or trauma. This is opposed to the previously mentioned Losses of Consciousness which occur due to less apparent disturbances. But with that noted, we must eventually consider the phenomenon of mind-body trauma. This state finds its epitome in the following cause of Loss of Consciousness:
Shock.
While any human being can experience shock, the word most readily brings to mind soldiers at arms. Over generations, Battle Fatigue was reborn as Shell Shock and War Neurosis. In recent times, Shell Shock has been superseded by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. Soldiers commonly deal with a number of traumatic forces along the way to receiving the current label. Symptoms of shock from whatever cause may include nightmares or recurring memories of trauma, avoidance of situations related to the original trauma, heightened reactions, anxiety, or depressed mood. It is said that most people who go through a traumatic event will not develop PTSD. Still about 6% of the U.S. population will have PTSD at some point in their lives. Surprisingly, military veterans only have a slightly increased chance – 7 % – of experiencing PTSD. It should be noted with emphasis that the vast majority of military and non-military patients who carry the label of PTSD are not shown to have detectable brain injury.
Psychosis.
Psychosis is a state of mind in which thoughts and emotions are so affected that contact with reality is lost persistently. In the past, psychosis was called insanity, madness and even lunacy. Serious mental ills, epilepsy prominently among them, were related to the moon in past eras. Quite interestingly, schizophrenia was originally called dementia praecox, or early dementia. The German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin in the 1880s believed that the brains of individuals who developed schizophrenia had begun to deteriorate prematurely – thus dementia praecox (praecox meaning very early). Psychotic symptoms appear as hallucinations, delusions, confusion, paranoia, and disorganized thinking and speech. Detectable causes include illness, injury, trauma, alcohol, and drugs – prescribed and otherwise. Still, the majority of cases have no known cause. Schizophrenia, the commonest affliction in which psychosis occurs, affects around one million Americans. It typically appears from the teens to the 30s and affects around 1 in 300 people worldwide.
Parkinsonism.
Parkinsonism or Parkinson’s disease is said by medics to be a brain disorder that “causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking.” A 2022 study revealed that nearly 90,000 people are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease every year in the U.S. This represents a 50% increase over previous estimates. One to 2 million Americans have Parkinson’s Disorder. Of this number over half have no known cause. Close to another million have drug-induced Parkinson’s. Then, there are a few thousand cases which follow upon encephalitis.
Amnesia.
Amnesia simply means lack or loss of memory. Amnesia is usually temporary but can be permanent. The causes are much like those listed for most of the ills in our spectrum of dementia. They include head injuries and shock, drugs and alcohol, traumatic events and progressive conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's diseases. “Psychogenic amnesia … is usually centered on traumatic events, such as accidents or unexpected bereavements, and is usually partial and selective.” We all experience amnesia of one sort or another. But, it is much more common in elder years of life. Memory being one aspect of mind-consciousness, its loss is a prominent feature of dementia.
Dementia.
Medics believe Dementia, commonly called Alzheimer’s, to be caused by damage to or loss of nerve cells and their connections in the brain. The name Dementia refers to a group of symptoms related to changes in behavior and especially cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — which interfere with daily living. Dementia symptoms tend to worsen over time. There are many forms of dementia with different names – as already indicated. Signs of a potential problem include: changes in mood or personality, social withdrawal, confusion with time and place, difficulty completing daily tasks, trouble with speaking or writing, and especially memory loss. Dementia by whatever name is said to affect more than 6 million Americans of all ages. But, elderly people have a much larger incidence rising to over 30 percent of those in their 80s.
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Before turning to the next chapter, we must reiterate that the most common causes of Loss of Consciousness which affects wide swathes of humanity in the USA and the world around us are psychoactive drugs and plants, alcohol intoxication, and surgical anesthesia. Medics are quite aware of this situation — but the medical system has come to rely on the use of powerful drugs, while too often ignoring or forgetting their dangerous side effects. Every day, general anesthesia causes serious complications. These include postoperative cognitive dysfunction, delirium and even hallucinations. [Those few words can be used to define psychosis, one kind of dementia.] Sometimes, confusion and memory loss can last longer than a few hours or days. Many people have noticed changes in loved ones after surgery, in particular that their memory appears to have gotten worse. This has led to question whether general anesthesia used during surgery can cause dementia. Studies have shown that older frail patients are at higher risk of complications, short term thinking and memory problems, and longer hospital stays after surgery. Some studies also suggest that anesthesia may make existing underlying dementia mechanisms worse, particularly in people at an increased “genetic” risk to the condition. One study looked at a very large group of older people (around 130,000) who had been exposed to general anesthesia in the past 7 years. General anesthesia was associated with higher risks of dementia. The older the person at time of surgery the higher risk of dementia. |
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