Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Delirium (formerly acute confusional state, an ambiguous term that is now discouraged) [1] is a specific state of acute confusion attributable to the direct physiological consequence of a medical condition, effects of a psychoactive substance, or multiple causes, which usually develops over the course of hours to days.
The Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) is a diagnostic tool developed to allow physicians and nurses to identify delirium in the healthcare setting. [1] It was designed to be brief (less than 5 minutes to perform) and based on criteria from the third edition-revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R).
The typical treatment of alcohol withdrawal is with benzodiazepines such as chlordiazepoxide or diazepam. [2] Often the amounts given are based on a person's symptoms. [2] Thiamine is recommended routinely. [2] Electrolyte problems and low blood sugar should also be treated. [2] Early treatment improves outcomes. [2]
In hospitals, the elderly face the very real problem of ageism. For example, doctors and nurses often mistake symptoms of delirium for normal elderly behavior. Delirium is a condition that has hyperactive and hypoactive stages. In the hypoactive stages, elderly patients can just seem like they are sleeping or irritable. [15]
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. Many of these problems are treatable, if ...
Dementia affects 5% of the population older than 65 and 20–40% of those older than 85. [279] Rates are slightly higher in women than men at ages 65 and greater. [ 279 ] The disease trajectory is varied and the median time from diagnosis to death depends strongly on age at diagnosis, from 6.7 years for people diagnosed aged 60–69 to 1.9 ...
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.
Dementia and delirium are the cause of the confusion, orientation, cognition or alertness impairment. [11] Therefore, these symptoms require more attention because hallucinations, delusions, amnesia, and personality changes are the result. These effects of the dementia and delirium are not joined with the changes of sensory or perception abilities.