Is Your Elderly Loved One Suffering From Dehydration?
There are a lot of physical symptoms that could indicate that a loved one is suffering from nursing home abuse. While some of these signs are difficult to observe, many are easily identifiable. Dehydration, for example, often shows itself physically as dry or papery skin, sunken eyes and cheeks, and low blood pressure. Unfortunately, chronic dehydration can be more difficult to identify, which means that some nursing home residents suffer the effects for months or even years before it is addressed. For help ensuring that your own loved one’s nursing home is held accountable for providing negligent care, please reach out to an experienced Tulsa dehydration lawyer today.
What is Dehydration?
Our bodies constantly lose water through sweating, urinating, and even breathing. Replenishing these fluids by drinking water is critical to the performance of many bodily vital functions. Having too little water in the body, which occurs when a person loses more water than he or she takes in, results in dehydration. Being dehydrated can have significant repercussions for a person’s ability to function on a day-to-day basis and can lead to serious health complications. The early stages of dehydration often involve:
- Having a sticky and dry mouth;
- Excessive thirst;
- Dizziness;
- Having dry or papery skin; and
- Experiencing decreased urination.
If left unmonitored and untreated, dehydration can quickly become a serious problem, with late stage dehydration often accompanied by:
- Confusion and irritability;
- An inability to sweat;
- Sunken eyes and cheeks;
- Low blood pressure;
- An accelerated breathing rate;
- Unconsciousness; and
- Delirium.
Late stage dehydration can result in dangerous complications, including seizures, brain swelling, kidney failure, and even comas. This is particularly true for the elderly, who are often suffering from other medical conditions that could be worsened by dehydration.
Nursing Home Liability
Dehydration in nursing homes occurs at an alarming rate and is often evidence of ongoing nursing home abuse or neglect. This problem is compounded by the fact that many nursing home residents are not able to communicate when they are thirsty or are lacking fluids. Dehydration amongst nursing home residents could also be the result of inadequate supervision of the residents’ drinking behaviors, or even a lack of staff members to actually help the residents drink. In some cases, there may even be evidence that an employee is withholding fluids purposely as a means of punishment.
Whether the result of purposeful abuse or neglect, residents who suffer from dehydration because of a nursing home’s lack of care can take legal action by filing a lawsuit against the nursing home in question. A successful suit can provide injured residents with financial compensation for their treatment expenses, housing costs, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Set Up a Free Consultation with a Tulsa Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
If your loved one was the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, our experienced nursing home abuse lawyers may be able to help. Call Levinson Law, P.C. today at 918-492-4433 to get a free case review and to learn more about whether your relative could be entitled to compensation.
Resource:
medlineplus.gov/dehydration.html
