Delirium

Delirium is a serious medical condition.  It’s like confusion, but way worse and happens almost suddenly.  If you or a loved one ever experience delirium here is what you should know.  Delirium is a major disturbance in the mental abilities of an individual that will result in a decrease in their awareness of what is going on around them.  In addition, the way they think will become totally clouded resulting in ongoing confusion during their episode of delirium. 

Delirium can occur due to one or more contributing causes such as a severe or chronic medical illness, medications, infection, surgery, and/or drug or alcohol abuse.  When a cause is present and the trigger is pulled, the onset of delirium is generally sudden, often within a few hours or a few days depending on the cause.  One may actually mistake delirium for dementia because the symptoms can be so similar at times.  Remember though that dementia happens gradually over a long period of time, whereas delirium hits suddenly.  Input from a family members or caregivers that are around the individual with delirium is greatly appreciated by providers in order to make a diagnosis and differentiate it from dementia so that the correct treatment is implemented.

Here are some signs and symptoms of delirium to look for.  You must keep in mind that these will appear over a short period of time.  The symptoms may also change throughout the course of the day, so an individual may have no symptoms during lunch but their behavior may drastically change as the sun goes down.

ü  Decreased attention span to stay focused on topics or change topics

ü  Wandering

ü  Hesitant to respond to questions or to have a conversation

ü  Being easily distracted

ü  Being withdrawn with minimal response to the environment

ü  Poor memories of recent events

ü  Disorientation, including not knowing where one is, what day it is, or what time it is

ü  Difficulty speaking or recalling words

ü  Rambling, or having speech that makes no sense

ü  Difficulty reading, writing, or understanding what others are saying

ü  Having hallucinations (seeing things that do not exist)

ü  Being restless, agitated, irritable, or combative in their behaviors

ü  Insomnia or disturbed sleeping habits

ü  Emotions that go to the extreme such as fear, anxiety, anger or depression

There are several risk factors and probable causes of delirium.  Generally it occurs in older adults due to the numerous medications that they take collectively on a daily basis.  Delirium occurs when the normal functioning of the signals that fire in the brain become disturbed.  This brain disturbance is most likely caused by a combination of factors that make the brain vulnerable enough to trigger a malfunction.  The most common causes that trigger delirium are dehydration, infections (such as urinary tract infections), skin infections, and abdominal infections.  There are more conditions that may increase your risk for delirium, which include:

ü  Dementia

ü  Older age

ü  History of other delirium episodes

ü  Impaired hearing or vision

ü  Poor nutrition

ü  Severe, chronic or terminal illness

ü  Multiple medical problems and/or procedures taking place

ü  Use of multiple drugs for treatment

Certain medications or combinations of medications may also trigger delirium.  These types of medications include:

ü  Pain medication

ü  Medication for sleep

ü  Antihistamines (for allergies)

ü  Mood disorder medications (for anxiety or depression)

ü  Medication for Parkinson’s disease

ü  Seizure medications

ü  Asthma medications

A collaborative cause may also be the root of an episode of delirium such as having one of the medical conditions that put you at a greater risk, along with toxicity from taking one of the high-risk medications.  The treatment goal of your episode of delirium will be focused on identification of the ultimate cause.  If the contributing factors are determined, you will be on your way to a faster recovery time.  The healthier you are, the better the chance you will have to fully recover.  However, if an individual already has dementia and experiences delirium, a notable worsening of their dementia may occur once the delirium is resolved. 

Total Home Health has a program that is right for you and your loved ones during these vulnerable times.  We understand that if your loved one is affected, so are you.  Our compassionate staff never waiver at treating you all like family and doing all we can to ensure you are aware of all the available resources to help you cope during these taxing times.  Due to the dangerous symptoms of delirium, our main focus at Total Home Health is going to be to ensure your safety at all times.  Total Home Health has professionals that deal with this on a daily basis, let us help you take care of your loved ones today and treat them like family!