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+For people over 60 years old.
+Causes of: MENTAL CONFUSION IN THE THIRD AGE
+By: Arnaldo Liechtenstein, physician.
+Whenever I teach clinical medicine to students in the fourth year of medicine, I ask the following question:
+What are the causes of mental confusion in the elderly?
+Some offer: "Tumors in the head".  I answer: No!
+Others suggest: "Early symptoms of Alzheimer's".
+I answer again: No!
+With each rejection of their answers, their responses dry up.
+And they are even more open-mouthed when I list the three most common causes:
+. Uncontrolled diabetes
+. Urinary infection
+. Dehydration
+It may sound like a joke, but it isn't.
+People over 60 constantly stop feeling thirsty and consequently stop drinking fluids.
+When no one is around to remind them to drink fluids, they quickly dehydrate. Dehydration is severe and affects the entire body. It may cause abrupt mental confusion, a drop in blood pressure, increased heart palpitations, angina (chest pain), coma and even death.
+This habit of forgetting to drink fluids begins at age 60, when we have just over 50% of the water we should have in our bodies.
+People over 60 have a lower water reserve. This is part of the natural aging process.
+But there are more complications. Although they are dehydrated, they don't feel like drinking water, because their internal balance mechanisms don't work very well.
+Conclusion:
+People over 60 years old dehydrate easily, not only because they have a smaller water supply, but also because they do not feel the lack of water in the body.
+Although people over 60 may look healthy, the performance of reactions and chemical functions can damage their entire body.
+So here are two alerts:
+. Get into the habit of drinking liquids. Liquids include water, juices, teas, coconut water, milk, soups,and water-rich fruits, such as watermelon, melon, peaches and pineapple. Orange and tangerine also work. The important thing is that, every two hours, you must drink some liquid.
+Remember this!
+) Alert for family members: Constantly offer fluids to people over 60.  At the same time, observe them.
+If you realize that they are rejecting liquids and, from one day to the next, they are irritable, breathless or display a lack of attention, these are almost certainly recurrent symptoms of dehydration.
+Arnaldo Liechtenstein (46), physician, is a general practitioner at Hospital das Clínicas and a collaborating professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (USP).