Understanding Excessive Salivation in Early-Stage Dementia

Question
My father in law  has been diagnosed as having age related dementia. . it is in the early stages. He lives alone an drives, but is very forgetful and has been told he shouldn't make decisions for himself.  He just lost his wife of 50 years (he's about 72) and is understandably depressed about losing his wife.  There is one thing I'm not sure about. He has had a loss of appetite and nausea (probably understandable) and one other thing which he's having a hard time dealing with is that he says he's salivating all the time.  What does that indicate?  Is it something to do with the nausea?

Answer
it may be as a result of nausea.... excess salivation can occur when someone has nausea..... and the nausea can be a side effect of dementia drugs...... I don't know what he is on but the new Exelon Patch combined with Namenda has been very helpful for my patients... you don't want to treat the excess salivation with any "dry up" meds because that will have adverse side effects (meds like antihistamines)