Slurred speech, tired, confused. Taking BP medicine. Heat stroke?
Patient: my dad is 87 yrs old, lives in a very old building with no A/C....it has been in the 90 s the last two days.....he says he has not been outside, just sitting inside with the fans on. He says he just cant take the heat outside but that he s fine. However, his speech is slurred and slow like someone who has been drinking ( he doesn t drink EVER ). He says other that being tired and feeling a little lethargic, he s fine.....he is usually extremely alert, focused and mentally sharp. However, he sounds a little confused and totally forgot his doctor s appointment yesterday. He only takes BP meds, no other meds. Does this sound like heat stroke or heat exhaustion, even if he hasn t been out in the sun? He s not dizzy, or nauseous . He says he s not wearing his dentures and maybe that s why his speech is slurred. My dad always wears his dentures....he lives alone and I only talked to him on the phone.....I haven t gone to check on him.....he keeps saying he s fine. What should I do. Doctor: Hi,Thank you for posting your query.The symptoms do not sound like a heat exhaustion, but suggests that he is unwell. You would need to go and check on him.It could be due to electrolyte imbalance such as low serum sodium (hyponatremia) or low calcium (hypocalcemia).Another possibility would be to exclude a minor ischemic stroke of the left side of brain.I hope it helps.Please get back if you require any additional information.Best wishes,Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology)Senior Consultant NeurologistApollo Hospitals, Hyderabad,My personal URL on this website:  http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar My email: drsudhirkumar@yahoo.comMy blog: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.com/