Question

When differentiating between delirium and dementia in a pt, what would a pt with dementia exhibit?

Answer 1

A patient with dementia would exhibit symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, difficulty with tasks, poor judgment, and personality changes. These symptoms are progressive and affect daily living, unlike delirium, which is acute and often reversible. Alzheimer's disease, a common type of dementia, includes severe memory and cognitive impairments.

Step-by-step explanation:

A patient with dementia will typically display symptoms such as disruptive memory loss, confusion about time or place, difficulty with planning and executing tasks, poor judgment, and personality changes. These symptoms can be progressive and usually interfere with a person's daily life and independence. Dementia is a syndrome that affects memory, thinking, behavior, and the ability to perform everyday activities. Although it predominantly affects older individuals, it is not a normal part of aging.

It's important to differentiate dementia from delirium, which can have similar presentations but is often more acute and reversible. Delirium is typically characterized by a sudden change in consciousness or cognition and can fluctuate throughout the day. In contrast, dementia's development is generally gradual.

Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a common form of dementia, include significant memory loss, confusion, and difficulty in task execution, which are more severe in comparison to the typical age-related changes.

Answer 2

A patient with dementia typically exhibits disruptive memory loss, confusion, planning and task execution issues, poor judgment, and personality changes. These symptoms intensify with disease progression, leading to severe loss of basic functions and dependency on caregivers.

Step-by-step explanation:

When differentiating between delirium and dementia in a patient, key characteristics to look for in a patient with dementia include disruptive memory loss, confusion about time or place, difficulty with planning and executing tasks, poor judgment, and personality changes. Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a common type of dementia, intensify as the disease progresses. In the moderate stage of Alzheimer's disease, patients may not recognize their own family members and may wander, leading to increased risk behavior. In severe Alzheimer's disease, there's a loss of basic functions, leading to full dependency on others for care and, eventually, death due to the deterioration of these basic functions.

Patients with dementia would exhibit disruptive memory loss, confusion about time or place, difficulty with planning and executing tasks, poor judgment, and/or personality changes. These symptoms are common in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, which is a type of dementia. Additionally, problems with smelling certain scents can also be indicative of Alzheimer's disease.