Dementia vs Delerium

Came across this article and it addresses what recently happened when Gregory and I returned home from Michigan after visiting his brother who had a major stroke. Turns out Gregory's having just begun a very very bad cough and cold, having visited his brother and possibly not having the language to process his feelings, and the long drive home caused DELIRIUM. Nice to have a label for something if only because you can begin to know (or pretend to know) what to do about it. Read on:

What's the Difference Between Dementia and Delirium?

1 answer | Last updated: Feb 26, 2012 Leslie Kernisan, M.D. said...  The main difference between dementia and delirium relates to timing and reversibility. Both dementia and delirium involve abnormal thinking and brain function. Having dementia means that a person has permanent problems with thinking and memory, which are severe enough to affect day-to-day function. The most common underlying cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease.  In most people, dementia symptoms come on gradually, and thinking problems continue to slowly worsen over months to years. 

Delirium, on the other hand, is an acute state of mental confusion, meaning that a person's thinking and ability to focus are worse than usual. Whereas dementia tends to develop slowly over years, the symptoms of delirium come on quickly, over hours to days. Delirium is usually brought on by stress affecting the body or the brain. It can cause a healthy person to behave like someone with dementia. 

In people with dementia, delirium can make them much more confused than usual. People with dementia are especially prone to develop delirium when they're sick or exposed to certain common medications. In most cases, the confusion of delirium improves once the underlying illness or stress is removed. 

So unlike a dementia such as Alzheimer's disease, delirium is reversible. In people with dementia, treatment of delirium usually brings them back to their usual state of mental functioning (what was "normal" for them before the case of delirium), although many don't ever get quite back to where they were.

If a doctor or other medical staff (such as a nurse in the hospital) doesn't know a patient well, it can be hard to tell delirium and dementia apart, because both usually involve confused thinking. The professional may not be able to figure out whether this is a change unless a caregiver is available to provide extra information about what's usual. For that and other reasons, it's important for caregivers to understand how to prevent delirium and what to do when they see signs of delirium.  .

CLICK HERE TO SEE: Previous BLOG referred to in this post.

Below is a link to a site I discovered that so far seems very helpful with my being a better caregiver partner to Gregory.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO: Caring.Com