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Here's how to distinguish "sundowning"—agitation or confusion later in the day in dementia patients—from typical aging, from doctors who treat older adults.
Sundowning, or sundown syndrome, [1] is a neurological phenomenon wherein people with delirium or some form of dementia experience increased confusion and restlessness beginning in the late afternoon and early evening.
The causes of delirium depend on the underlying illnesses, new problems like sepsis and low oxygen levels, and the sedative and pain medicines that are nearly universally given to all people in the ICU p. Outside the ICU, on hospital wards and in nursing homes, the problem of delirium is also a very important medical problem, especially for ...
Its causes are under investigation and occurs commonly in older patients and those with pre-existing cognitive impairment. [2] The causes of POCD are not understood. It does not appear to be caused by lack of oxygen or impaired blood flow to the brain [3] and is equally likely under regional and general anesthesia.
The most common causes of drug induced acute confusion are dopaminergic drugs (used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease), diuretics, tricyclic, tetracyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines or alcohol. The elderly, and especially those with pre-existing dementia, are most at risk for drug induced acute confusional states. [8]
The third reason is the "memory self-efficacy," which indicates that older people do not have confidence in their own memory performances, leading to poor consequences. [17] It is known that patients with Alzheimer's disease and patients with semantic dementia both exhibit difficulty in tasks that involve picture naming and category fluency.
Causes vary between the different types of disorders but most include damage to the memory portions of the brain. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Treatments depend on how the disorder is caused. Medication and therapies are the most common treatments; however, for some types of disorders such as certain types of amnesia , treatments can suppress the symptoms ...
Some elderly people may find it hard to describe their symptoms in words, especially if the disease is causing confusion, or if they have cognitive impairment. Delirium in the elderly may be caused by a minor problem such as constipation or by something as serious and life-threatening as a heart attack .