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Just four stone when she died

Adam Derbyshire
30/ 1/2008

AN emaciated woman who suffered from dementia died weighing just over four stone, an inquest heard.

Margaret Wilson, 85, had been a resident at Thorncliffe Grange care home in Denton for three years.

Her son David, of Charnwood Avenue, Denton arranged for her to go into the care home in Windmill Lane after dementia slowly took hold.

He said: "I felt the care at the home was generally okay but I was always told she was eating fine."

Care home manager Sarah Hitchcock claimed Mrs Wilson weighed 31kg the day before her death.

An autopsy carried out four days later found she weighed 26kg, but it is unclear if post-mortem changes affected the reading.

Ms Hitchcock said: "She was frail and underweight and had a high risk of falling. She needed constant monitoring and was a poor eater. As time went on she became less mobile and slept for long periods.

"Her son rarely came to see her."

Hitting back, Mr Wilson said: "I often popped in to visit her for half an hour and left without seeing any members of staff, so they were not even aware I had been in the building.

"Secondly, I was never informed she wasn’t eating. Whenever I asked I was told she ate two meals a day."

Mrs Wilson was taken to Tameside Hospital on 13 February last year after struggling for breath.

She was given oxygen and discharged but died four days later.

Dr Paul Dickens, pathologist, said: "She was extremely thin and emaciated. She had deep bed sores on her buttocks.

"Her intestinal walls were also very thin, which is one of the last things to happen to people with poor nutrition.

"It is common for people with dementia to have little or no appetite. The brain cells die off and the nerve pathways are damaged, including those which regulate hunger.

"However, the main cause of death was heart disease."

Assistant deputy coroner Chris Welton said: "I am concerned to note how thin she was and the extent of the malnutrition.

"We have been told dementia is often accompanied by a poor appetite, but I am uneasy that she was so emaciated when the autopsy was carried out."

Verdict: natural causes