Weighing in on dementia...

Opiate abuse in elderly can also react and be diagnosed by emergency room physicians as dementia. Elderly have a tendency to have problems properly taking life sustaining medications but often abuse PRN medications such as pain killers. Elderly are often over medicated with pain killers that provides a sleep aid. Other elderly abuse their pain killer because some are good sleep aids. Many elderly then forget what they have taken.  Normal pain becomes pain they believe can be rid of through more pills. When they run out of pain killers they tend to take OTC pain killers and sleep aids. This combination then can provide an overdose of medications. Overdose symptoms are confusion, hostility, aggression, and fantom pain to name a few. ER physicians diagnose symptoms as dementia. Law enforcement chaulk up the actions of elderly to "old age" when actually the elder may have caused an accident or broke a traffic law under the influence of a substance.  Families must get beyond the age appropriate addiction thinking; believe and understand that addictions can happen to anyone, any age.