Geriatric Syndromes. Dementia and Delirium

Dementia and delirium are geriatric syndromes caused by neurological problems. In the table below I show the most significant differences:

	DELIRIUM	DEMENTIA
Beginning	Sudden	Gradual
Course	Floating with nocturnal exacerbations	Progressive
Awareness	Decreased	Normal
Atenttion	Affected globally	Normal, except in several crises
Cognition	Altered globally	Altered globally
Perception	Hallucination common, especially visual	Hallucinations rare
Delusions	Little systematic and fluctuating	Missing
Orientation	Decreased	Gradual decreased
Psychomotor Activity	Delayed, agitated or mixed	Normal

 

 

In patients with these conditions is important that health professionals follow communication guidelines:

• Approaching with a smile.
• Look to the eyes.
• Catch up with the patient.
• Use to short words and simple sentences.
• Repeat your statements.
• Avoid unusual expressions.
• Give to directions using fewer words.
• Ask questions so that patients have to answer "yes or no" when patients have difficulty answering.
• Make distracting noises disappear.

Today, families often blamed dementia "things of old age" and not caring. Furthermore, these diseases are often hidden under a depressive process. In my opinion and as a future nurse, I would make a good assessment of the patient. Then, together with other health professionals, we explain to the patient and her family her process and treatment to improve her quality of life.

 

Bibliography:

•  National Library of Medicine U.S. - MedlinePlus. [Website *]. [Revised 12/05/2013, updated 7/05/2013]. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/delirium.HTML
• National Library of Medicine U.S. - MedlinePlus. [Website *]. [Revised 12/05/2013, updated 7/05/2013]. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/dementia.HTML
• National Library of Medicine U.S. - MedlinePlus. [Website *]. [Revised 12/05/2013, updated 7/05/2013]. Available at: http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v%3Aproject=medlineplus-spanish&query=diferencias+entre+demencia+y+delirio&x=0&y=0