What effect does delirium have on the elderly?

summary

No matter you are a young person or a child, you and I will be old one day. None of us can go against the cycle of life. With the degradation of organ function and the rush to quit the social stage, the elderly have become a lonely group. The young generation are busy for their career or future, and have no more time to care for the elderly around us, They are a very vulnerable group. If they suffer from diseases, they will be hit hard. I hope the younger generation can understand them, because one day we will be old. What effect does delirium have on the elderly?

What effect does delirium have on the elderly?

Delirium has many effects on the elderly. On the one hand, delirium can complicate the primary disease and increase many unpredictable risks. For example, delirium can lead to falls, injuries and fractures. The occurrence of these catastrophes can complicate the course of delirium with behavior related events, therapeutic interventions, or both. For another example, an overactive elderly person may have fatal arrhythmias, while a sleepy elderly person may also have atelectasis.

Delirium, on the other hand, is a more dangerous state. It is not only because the behavior problems and sleep problems caused by delirium may lead to risk, but more importantly, delirium indicates the severity of underlying diseases. As mentioned earlier, delirium is a red light signal for the health of the elderly.

Due to the different primary diseases, the degree of primary disease and the physical quality, the prognosis of delirium elderly is very different. It is generally believed that the prognosis of patients with delirium due to deterioration of physical diseases is poor and the mortality is high. Especially in patients with cerebrovascular disease, cardiorenal disease and pulmonary encephalopathy, the mortality rate can reach 25-33% within one month. For senile dementia with delirium, although the mortality rate was not significantly increased, the symptoms of dementia were significantly aggravated after delirium recovery.

matters needing attention

The onset of delirium in old age is acute and severe, but the physical symptoms and signs are not obvious, so it is easy to be misdiagnosed. Missed diagnosis of delirium can even lead to the death of patients in a short time. If the underlying diseases are found in time and actively treated, the patients can often return to health. Therefore, when you find that the elderly around you have a similar situation, remember to send them to the hospital in time.