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Fronto-Temporal Dementia, Diabetes Mellitus and Excessive Eating
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
  • Ronald C. Hamdy
  • Amber Kinser, East Tennessee State University
  • Kara Dickerson, East Tennessee State University
  • Tracey Kendall-Wilson, East Tennessee State University
  • Audrey Depelteau, East Tennessee State University
  • Kathleen Whalen, East Tennessee State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Description

Diabetes mellitus is common among older people. Hypoglycemia is a sign of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and may lead to irritability, agitation, anxiety, hunger, and an excessive food intake, which in turn may make the control of diabetes more difficult. Excessive, inappropriate food intake is also a sign of Fronto-Temporal Dementia (behavioral variant: bvFTD). In this case study, we describe the events leading to an altercation that developed between an older diabetic patient with bvFTD and the staff in an Assisted Living Facility. His first dose of insulin was given early that morning while he was still asleep. He, subsequently, woke up feeling hungry, agitated, and irritable. This, in turn, exacerbated the hyperorality associated with bvFTD. We examine what went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how this potentially catastrophic situation could have been avoided or defused.

Copyright Statement

© The Author(s) 2018. This document was originally published in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Citation Information
Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Kara Dickerson, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, et al.. "Fronto-Temporal Dementia, Diabetes Mellitus and Excessive Eating" Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine Vol. 4 (2018) ISSN: 2333-7214
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/amber-kinser/42/