[Mild hypothermia in patients with senile dementia]

From the viewpoint of the high frequency of mild hypothermia in patients with senile dementia, we investigated causative factors in comparison with accidental hypothermia. We also investigated the relationship between hypothermia and the type or grade of dementia. A total of 127 demented cases including 30 males and 97 females, whose mean age was 80.6 +/- 8.9 years, were classified into 3 groups according to the axillary temperature measured in August 1989. Group A consisted of 33 cases whose body temperature was below 36 degrees C on more than 25 days. Group C consisted of 24 cases whose body temperature was above 36 degrees C on more than 25 days, and the remaining 70 cases were classified as group B. The frequency of group A classification in demented patients was higher than age-matched non-demented controls (26% vs 13%, p less than 0.05). In demented males, serum total cholesterol, serum albumin, and hemoglobin were significantly higher in group A than in group B or C. Body weight and serum triglyceride were also higher in group A, but not significantly. In demented females, serum albumin and hemoglobin were higher in groups A and B than group C. In addition, cases with diabetes mellitus or cases receiving with major tranquilizers were more frequent in group A, and the index of activities of daily living was higher in group A, in both sexes. Factors such as age, CRP or thyroid hormone (free T3, free T4) showed no significant difference among the 3 groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)