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Medical Forum / General / General / January 2005Bacterial flu dementia in elderly ?
How common is mental confusion in elderly cardiac men with bad bacterial flu causing fevers of 101 or more F or 38 C ? Thanks, for my dad Pretty common. Mild dementia is very commonly aggrivated by fever. And a really severe infection can make even non-demented people completely confused. The general rule is all these mental status changes are entirely reversible (provided the infection is not actually in the brain), if the infection is cured. >How common is mental confusion in elderly cardiac men with bad bacterial >flu causing fevers of 101 or more F or 38 C ? > >Thanks, for my dad There's no such thing as "bacterial flu" but no matter. I take it he has some sort of bacterial lung infection. Confusion is extremely common in anyone with a high fever. Worry about the infection, not the confusion. The confusion will probably pass once the infection is under control and his fever is down. >>How common is mental confusion in elderly cardiac men with bad bacterial >>flu causing fevers of 101 or more F or 38 C ? >> >>Thanks, for my dad > > There's no such thing as "bacterial flu" but no matter. Hemophilus influenza >Hemophilus influenza Yes, but it's not influenza. The bacterium was named that because when it was discovered they thought it was responsible for influenza. >>Hemophilus influenza > > Yes, but it's not influenza. The bacterium was named that because when it > was discovered they thought it was responsible for influenza. Yes, but--- O.P. specified bacterial influenza. Possibly O.P. is misstating what his doc told him, as it is common for lay people to confuse virus and bacterial diseases; possibly H. influenzae has been isolated, and O.P. is accurately restating what is going on---hence the mental confusion. >>>Hemophilus influenza >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >bacterial diseases; possibly H. influenzae has been isolated, and O.P. is >accurately restating what is going on---hence the mental confusion. Yeah, you're right. Could be that's the source of confusion. I guess I didn't see that angle even though it's kind of obvious now. : How common is mental confusion in elderly cardiac men with bad bacterial : flu causing fevers of 101 or more F or 38 C ? : Thanks, for my dad  SignatureIt's not dementia, it's delerium. as I understand it, the LEADING CAUSE of an "acute confusional state" in elderly folks is UTIs. Ever had pneumonia? That can be incredibly delirium-causing, too. Behavioural indicators of Delirium consists of actions such as (a) "picking at bedclothes/body", (b) talking/mumbling speech, (talking to someone who is not there) -- person is NOT oriented to Place/Time/Person (b) trying to get up and move when it is unsafe. There is a Delirium/Dementia/Depression document available at www.rnao.org. The three conditions can appear very very similar, AND may overlap. For an objective measure, you may want to do the CAM test with him ("Confusion Assessment Method"). The scores are pretty reliable. You should be able to find it on Google. Another test is "clock drawing". Can he draw a clock with the outer circle, numbers and arms all in the right places? If not, this suggests cortical decline (temporary or permanent). HTH, Emma |
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