Gerontology Exam 2- Chapters 2,3,4, 11, 12, 13 14, 15,
Chapter 14
● Delirium
- It’s treatable and preventable
- changes mental status: problems
... [Show More] with attention, consciousness, and altered
sleep/wake patterns.
- shortermed: develops over hrs/days and persists for months.
● Develops over hours or days
● Fluctuates over course of the day
● Can persist for months
● Changes in mental status
○ Attention
○ Consciousness
○ Alterer sleep-wake patterns
Risks for delirium
● Interaction between predisposing factors and precipitating factors
○ Increase of persons vulnerability and account for an immediate threat
○ Advanced age, can lead to dementia, depression, functional dependency,
polypharmacy, surgery, infections, serious illness and physical restraints
Functional consequences
● Longer hospital stays
● Increase morality
● Increased dependency
● short/long term functional impairment
● Higher rates of permanent resident in long term facilities
History of delirium
● Higher number of CHF
● Medications
○ Anticholinergics (oxybutynin)
○ Benzodiazepines
○ Alprazolam
○ Lorazepam
○ Diazepam
3 subtitles of delirium
1. Hyperactive
a. Restlessness, agitation, combativeness, anger, wondering, laughing, swearing,
emotional lability and fast or loud speech
2. Hypoactive
a. Lethargy, staring, slowed movement, paucity of speech, and unresponsiveness.
3. Mixed
a. Hypo and hyper
● Dementia
○ Medical term of group of brain disorders characterized by gradual decline in
cognitive abilities and changes in personality & behavior.
4 types of dementia?
● Alzheimer’s disease
● Vascular dementia
● Lewy body dementia
● Frontotemporal degeneration
● 1 or more called, mixed dementia
Alzheimer’s disease:
● Accounts for 60-80% of case of dementia
● Type of dementia with the strongest research base
● Path chart
○ Loss of neurons
○ Atrophy of large cortical neurons
● Brain atrophy
○ The person develops cognitive impairment
○ Mind to moderate stages
Vascular dementia: caused by reduction or block of blood flow to the brain
- Most preventable through intervention
- Mild to severe
- Risk factors: strokes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, diabetes, atrial
fibrillation.
Lewy body dementia: a progressive neurological disorder that results from abnormal deposition
of proteins in the nerve cells of the brain.
- Includes Parkinson’s disease
- Affects: cognitive, motor function, sensory function, sleep patterns, and autonomic
function
- Rapid cognitive decline
Frontotemporal degeneration: a spectrum of heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorders
involving the frontal or temporal lobes or both [Show Less]