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.

Project for improving nurses' assessment skills to detect and alleviate delirium symptoms

In the future, nurses may more accurately detect and alleviate symptoms of delirium in persons with dementia, thanks to a five-year, $2.7-million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research.The project, led by Donna Fick, professor of nursing, Penn State, seeks to improve nurses' assessment skills and reduce the use of drugs to treat delirium and dementia.

5 Aug 2010

Delirium increases risk of death in older patients

A review and analysis of previous research indicates that delirium in elderly patients is associated with an increased risk of death, dementia, and institutionalization, independent of age, co-existing illnesses or illness severity, according to a study in the July 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Jul 2010

Health care industry and professionals respond to seniors' growing health needs

The explosive growth of the USA's older population is fueling a grass-roots 'village' movement in neighborhoods across the country to help people age in their own homes. More than 50 villages in a neighbor-helping-neighbor system have sprouted in the past decade from California and Colorado to Nebraska and Massachusetts.

27 Jul 2010

Decreased perioperative cerebral oxygenation values linked to poor outcomes after aortic arch surgery

CAS Medical Systems, Inc. today announced that a new study published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery supports the association between decreased perioperative cerebral oxygenation values and poor outcomes after aortic arch surgery.

15 Jul 2010

Drugs taken for common medical conditions cause long term cognitive impairment in older adults: Study

Drugs commonly taken for a variety of common medical conditions including insomnia, allergies, or incontinence negatively affect the brain causing long term cognitive impairment in older African-Americans, according to a study appearing in the July 13, 2010 print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

14 Jul 2010

AlphaRx reports positive preclinical results of GAI-122 injectable nanoemulsion for Acute Ischemic Stroke

AlphaRx, Inc. announced positive preclinical results of GAI-122 injectable nanoemulsion, a Mitochondria-targeted neuroprotective drug candidate being developed for the treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke. The results will be delivered as a podium presentation during the 37th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society in Portland, Oregon July 10 - 14, 2010.

13 Jul 2010

First Edition: June 21, 2010

Today's news includes an exploration of the impact of Medicare payment rates on physicians, an analysis of the fate of the COBRA subsidy and how an innovation may offer a medical malpractice fix.

21 Jun 2010

Secondhand smoke exposure associated with psychological distress

Exposure to secondhand smoke appears to be associated with psychological distress and the risk of future psychiatric hospitalization among healthy adults, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Jun 2010

Patients who participate in physical therapist-led exercise achieve higher functional mobility: Report

Patients who are critically ill and participate in mild exercise programs led by physical therapists achieve higher functional mobility and spend fewer days in intensive care units and hospitals than those who receive less exercise, according to a report published in the April issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

12 May 2010

Covidien launches EXALGO Extended-Release Tablets in the US

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, today introduced EXALGO™ (hydromorphone HCI) Extended-Release Tablets, (CII), the only extended-release hydromorphone treatment available in the United States. This proven therapy, combined with an innovative delivery system, provides opioid-tolerant patients suffering from moderate-to-severe chronic pain relief for 24 hours per dose.

26 Apr 2010

Ocera Therapeutics presents data on prevalence of neurocognitive impairment in cirrhotic patients

Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. presented an analysis of the prevalence of neurocognitive impairment in ambulatory cirrhotic patients. The data came from the screening period of the ASTUTE Study, an ongoing Phase 2b study evaluating the safety and efficacy of AST-120 (spherical carbon adsorbent) in the treatment of mild hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). The poster was presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver (EASL) in Vienna, Austria. Efficacy and safety data from the ASTUTE study are expected in the summer of 2010.

17 Apr 2010

Earplugs and eye masks could help intensive care patients get better night's sleep

Eye masks and earplugs could help hospital patients get a better night's sleep. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care investigated their effect on sleep quality in a simulated intensive care environment.

15 Apr 2010

Critical experts introduce mild exercise programs to care critically ill patients in ICU

A new report from critical care experts at Johns Hopkins shows that use of prescription sedatives goes down by half so that mild exercise programs can be introduced to the care of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit.

9 Apr 2010

Hospitalization may be a marker for cognitive decline or dementia in older patients, says study

Older patients hospitalized for acute care or a critical illness are more likely to experience cognitive decline compared to older adults who are not hospitalized, according to a study in the February 24 issue of JAMA.

24 Feb 2010

Enrollment complete in Ocera Therapeutics' ASTUTE Phase 2B trial for mild hepatic encephalopathy

Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the ASTUTE Study (AST-120 Used to Treat Hepatic Encephalopathy) has completed enrollment for its Phase 2B study ahead of schedule, with data expected mid 2010.

24 Feb 2010

Standard checklist for home palliative sedation

Can patients near death safely receive sedation at home, fully respecting their own and their families' wishes? This practice, which is on the rise, is coming under increasing scrutiny and debate by palliative care researchers and practitioners.

19 Feb 2010

Med-IC aims to improve health care for older adults

The Medicare Innovations Collaborative, or Med-IC, is a pilot program that will put some of the nation’s best ideas for improving health care for older adults into practice at hospitals around the country, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University announced.

28 Jan 2010

Limiting depth of sedation reduces risk of postoperative delirium in elderly patients

A common complication following surgery in elderly patients is postoperative delirium, a state of confusion that can lead to long-term health problems and cause some elderly patients to complain that they "never felt the same" again after an operation. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that simply limiting the depth of sedation during procedures could safely cut the risk of postoperative delirium by 50 percent.

23 Jan 2010

CMO to manufacture Gaia BioPharma's GAI-122 Mitochondria-targeted neuroprotective agent

AlphaRx Inc. announced today that its licensee, Gaia BioPharma Limited, has signed an agreement with a contract manufacturing organization (CMO), to manufacture GAI-122 for use in the planned Phase I and II clinical trials of that product candidate. GAI-122 is being developed as I.V. administered formulation of an intracellular neuroprotectant that employs AlphaRx's proprietary nano-emulsion formulation technology.

22 Jan 2010

Light sedation decreases postoperative delirium in elderly patients by 50%

A recent study, published in the January issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, demonstrates that in elderly patients undergoing hip fracture repair under spinal anesthesia with propofol sedation, the prevalence of delirium can be decreased by 50 percent with light sedation, compared to deep sedation.

20 Jan 2010