Delirium News and Research

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Delirium is a mental state in which a person is confused, disoriented, and not able to think or remember clearly. The person may also be agitated and have hallucinations, and extreme excitement.

AACN PEARL provides one-stop convenience for nurses, other healthcare professionals

A new clinical resource from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) provides one-stop convenience for nurses, clinicians and other healthcare professionals seeking evidence-based knowledge and tools to help them improve patient outcomes.

20 Sep 2012

Delirium widespread among older people but often goes ignored and untreated

Delirium is widespread among older people but often goes ignored and untreated, according to new research by US and UK researchers including the University of East Anglia (UEA).

19 Sep 2012

Mallinckrodt receives FDA approval for 32 mg tablet strength of EXALGO

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has notified Mallinckrodt, the pharmaceuticals business of Covidien, that it has approved a 32 mg tablet strength of EXALGO (hydromorphone HCI) Extended-Release Tablets (CII) for opioid-tolerant patients with moderate-to-severe chronic pain requiring continuous around-the-clock opioid analgesia for an extended period of time.

27 Aug 2012

Detect-to-Protect project to measure performance of new sensors for biological agents

The idea that disease and infection might be used as weapons is truly dreadful, but there is plenty of evidence showing that biological weapons have been around since ancient times. Bioterrorism, as it is dubbed, is nothing new, and although medicines have made the world a safer place against a myriad of old scourges both natural and manmade, it still remains all too easy today to uncork a nasty cloud of germs.

27 Aug 2012

Mirror-gazing illusion more intense in schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia report more intense perceptual illusions during the mirror-gazing task than do mentally healthy people, report researchers who also found that the patients were more likely to believe their illusions were real.

10 Aug 2012

Postoperative delirium has lasting cognitive consequences

Patients may take a long time to recover from the cognitive impact of cardiac surgery if they develop postoperative delirium, research shows.

10 Jul 2012

Preventing post-operative delirium may improve recovery of cognitive ability in cardiac patients

Older patients undergoing cardiac surgery often experience changes in cognitive function, such as memory problems or an inability to focus, in the days immediately following their operations. While these changes are usually temporary, for unknown reasons, a significant number of cardiac patients will encounter long-term cognitive problems, lasting as long as a year after their surgeries.

5 Jul 2012

Hospitalization, delirium worsen AD patients’ outcomes

Individuals with Alzheimer’s disease who are hospitalized are at risk for adverse outcomes including institutionalization, cognitive decline, and death, show study results.

25 Jun 2012

Research roundup: Helping the homeless transition out of the hospital

Transitioning from a hospital visit can be challenge for many patients, but the homeless face particular difficulties as they move to a shelter, or even back to the streets. Researchers in this study surveyed 98 homeless individuals in New Haven, Conn., as well as interviewed them about their experiences leaving the hospital. More than half said that their providers did not address housing or transportation, and 11 percent reported living on the streets on the night of their discharge. The authors recommend "improved assessment of housing status, communication between hospital and shelter providers, and arrangement of safe transportation" for homeless individuals.

23 Jun 2012

Long QT Syndrome may cause unexplained ExD deaths

The headlines are often filled with this scenario: a person displaying violent, bizarre and agitated behavior is subdued by law enforcement personnel and later dies in custody. It appears to be a case of police brutality - but is it? According to William P. Bozeman, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, some of these deaths may be caused by an abnormal cardiac condition called Long QT Syndrome, compounded by a situation of Excited Delirium (ExD) Syndrome.

21 Jun 2012

Methodist receives $26.2M H&HS grant to reduce blood infections and delirium

Grants from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services totaling $26.2 million will support work by The Methodist Hospital in Houston to reduce blood infections and delirium-caused injuries in Texas hospitals.

16 Jun 2012

$Hip fracture mortality increases with even mild cognitive decline$

Hip fracture mortality increases with even mild cognitive decline

Patients with just mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment have a high risk for nursing home admission and mortality during the first year after hip fracture, researchers report.

15 Jun 2012

Better care for dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid patients could reduce hospitalization rates

Providing better care for dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid patients could significantly reduce hospitalization rates for this population, saving taxpayers between $625 million and $1.9 billion per year, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and Florida Atlantic University.

15 Jun 2012

Study strengthens link between HHV-6B and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

A ten-year NIH-funded study has determined that a third of infants with prolonged seizures and fever suffer from either a new or reactivated roseola virus infection. Roseola viruses are the cause of the common childhood rash, but can also cause limbic encephalitis, a condition that frequently progresses to epilepsy. Investigators discovered one of the roseola viruses, human herpesvirus-6B (HHV-6B) in the blood of 32% of 169 infants with prolonged seizures, a condition known as status epilepticus.

15 Jun 2012

Ways to improve care and reduce the high cost for Medicare beneficiaries highlighted by Hopkins study

It’s well known that a relatively small percentage of chronically ill patients account for a disproportionate amount of health care dollars. Now, a multicenter study led by Johns Hopkins researcher Bruce Leff, M.D., might provide insights into how to cut Medicare costs while improving health care for older adults suffering from chronic health conditions.

5 Jun 2012

Delirium has protracted course in elderly care home residents

Episodes of delirium in elderly care home residents tend to be protracted, typically being preceded and/or followed by subacute symptomatology, a prospective cohort study indicates.

30 May 2012

Janssen’s NUCYNTA ER tablets more effective in providing pain management in adults with DPN

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the results of an investigational Phase 3 study suggesting NUCYNTA ER (tapentadol) extended-release tablets were significantly more effective than placebo in providing pain management among adults with chronic moderate to severe, painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

18 May 2012

HIMSS Analytics recognizes 17 Banner Health facilities with Stage 7 award

Seventeen Banner Health facilities have achieved Stage 7, the final stage in the adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) as acknowledged by HIMSS Analytics, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

5 May 2012

Devices to aid dementia sufferers suggested

Five novel ideas were shortlisted for further development in a competition run by the Design Council and the Department of Health, to help make the lives of hundreds of thousands of people with dementia easier and more enjoyable.

29 Apr 2012

Possible link between sleep apnea and post-surgical delirium

An anecdotal observation of a possible link between sleep apnea and post-surgical delirium has been measured and confirmed by a team of researchers at the Duke University Medical Center.

28 Mar 2012