Alzheimers, dementia and delirium

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Alzheimers, dementia and delirium (table with links)
Alzheimers:	Dementia:	Delirium:
What is Alzheimers	AIDS dementia	Delirium tremens
Alzheimers research	Creutzfeld-Jacob disease dementia
Aluminum story	Dementia because of subdural hematoma	Infectious causes
Alzheimers and postmenopausal women	Huntingtons disease (chorea)	Metabolic
	Lewy body dementia	Structural causes
Alzheimers symptoms (early, intermediate, late, end stage)	Parkinson disease dementia	Toxic causes
	Trauma induced dementia
Diagnosis	Vascular dementia	Treatment of dilirium
Treatment
Return to neurology

Contents 1 Alzheimers, dementia and delirium 2 Dementia or "non-Alzheimers dementias" 3 Infectious causes of delirium 4 Structural causes of delirium

[edit] Alzheimers, dementia and delirium

Introduction:

The patient who is afflicted with any of these conditions is confused and disoriented and in the case of an acute delirium the condition may be so pronounced that the patient cannot be distinguished from a person with a psychosis. In the following I will describe several of these changed states of cognitive functioning.

The Above table provides some clarity and connect via links to any of the topics of interest.

[edit] Dementia or "non-Alzheimers dementias"

Anything, which is not Alzheimers is lumped together as "dementias". They all are leading to a lack of memory and symptoms very similar to Alzheimers. But they are distinct clinical entities and are dealt with separately in the literature. In the following I will only mention the most common ones.

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Alzheimers, dementia and delirium

[edit] Infectious causes of delirium

Many serious infections such as malaria, meningitis, encephalitis and serious pneumonia with high fevers and possible circulating toxins lead to a delirium. Septicemia may be hidden first and a delirium may be the first sign that something serious is going on. In AIDS patients there may be opportunistic infections with other pathogens as mentioned under dementia before.

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Alzheimers, dementia and delirium

[edit] Structural causes of delirium

There are a number of structural lesions that can cause a delirium. Perhaps the most common is a stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic in origin). Other common lesions are metastases into the brain from a primary tumor located elsewhere in the body (often lung, bone, liver, prostate or breast). Hemorrhages, such as a subarachnoid or subdural, can also cause delirium. A brain abscess, often from dirty needles in the street drug scene, can also suddenly present as a delirium.

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Alzheimers, dementia and delirium

References:

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