Question:

My mother in the past 2 months had pneumonia, kidney failure, gi problems and has had a pacemaker placed and a procedure called a cardiac ablation. Her kidneys shut down in mid August, 1 week after being hospitalized with pneumonia. She has never had any memorey or mental problems previous to this point in the life. She now is carrying on converstations with people who are not there or have been deceased. They do not talk back. She has been seeing things and is confused. These are much more noticiable after she has been to dialysis treatment. I am having trouble obtaining information on the internet that are related to kidney failure and dementia. Is this a common situation for patients and families? Can or does kidney failure bring on dementia?

Answer:

No, kidney failure itself does not bring on dementia, especially of the type that you are describing.  Several possibilities are:

• She may have widespread hardening of the arteries, and be experiencing dementia on that basis.  Certainly hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) can cause both kidney failure and dementia, as well as heart problems. 
• She may be experiencing a side effect of a medication, especially if she was started on new meds because of her pneumonia, GI problems, heart problems, or kidney problems.
• She may have had underlying unrecognized psychiatric problems that are being brought out under the stress of her starting dialysis. 

It would be best if you could sit down with her doctor and discuss the possibilities, so that both the cause and the treatment of her mental problems can be evaluated.  Do not be shy about letting the doctor know about these problems, because especially if they are occurring after she has left the dialysis unit, the medical personnel there may not understand how serious and worrisome her confusion and hallucinations are. 

For more information:

Go to the Kidney Diseases health topic.