Encourage the person to remain physically active by walking and doing gentle exercise if possible, but also make sure they get plenty of rest and relaxation. Confusion can be worse at night if the person is overtired. Make sure the person is treated with dignity and respect if they need additional help with going to the toilet or with personal hygiene tasks such as washing or getting dressed.
You can also help to ensure the person is eating nutritious and healthy meals, avoiding too much sugar, salt and processed foods. A person who is confused may be at risk from wandering — for example looking for a toilet or trying to find their way home. Take extra care to ensure that people who have memory problems, particularly older people, are monitored to reduce the risk of wandering.
This may include moving toilet facilities closer to the person or creating distractions to avoid boredom. If you encounter someone who is wandering, be aware that they may be frightened, unable to communicate properly, and may have health problems that affect their understanding and their movement.
It is important to calm them down and show them they can trust you. Introduce yourself, offer help and talk to them respectfully. Try to understand their reason for wandering and see if you can contact family members or friends. Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content. Read more on Dementia Australia website. How can we best understand dementia? Dementia causes a set of problems that are related to each other.
These include memory loss, trouble communicating, confusion and difficulty with walking around. There might be difficulty with recognising people they know, even if they are close friends and family members. Read more on Sleep Health Foundation website. Dementia affects each person differently. However symptoms such as confusion, memory loss and disorientation are usually present, and problems with mobility and co-ordination may also affect safety.
It is important that family, carers, friends and health professionals assist the person with dementia to feel and be as secure as possible. That's a very serious thing but I have absolutely seen that happen in young people. Very serious cases of bleeding in someone who maybe is taking a lot of ibuprofen for some pain and it causes some stomach irritation and bleeding. So those are the primary things I'm looking at, and then I might look at their oxygen level as well.
I have seen cases of people with low oxygen levels who have had suddenly a blood clot in the lungs and it goes to the lungs, it causes their oxygen level to drop, their heart rate's up. That causes confusion as well. For me, again, it's one of these things where it could be any of a number of things, but if you're with someone who is normally healthy, really doesn't have a lot of health issues and suddenly they're confused, that's someone absolutely I would get to the ER and then as an ER doctor there I'm going to be going one direction or another based on what's happened to them prior to that and also really looking at those vital signs to see, okay, is there one direction I need to go here either with infection or with the heart or something in the lungs, something that's causing this confusion to happen.
Interviewer: So it sounds like the cause of confusion is just the brain's not getting enough of something. Madsen: Well, the blood is delivering the oxygen so typically it's something that's decreasing the blood flow there.
Maybe there's just not enough oxygen getting in the body. Certainly young people it's less common but you have to think about strokes or bleeding in the brain. I have occasionally seen cases of people who seem confused but it's because they're just not speaking correctly. Either they're not pronouncing words correctly or they can think of the right words in their brain but they can't get the words out.
That's from either some sort of a stroke, from something breaking off and causing decreased blood flow to the brain or actual bleeding in the brain that's affecting that. Again, these are all things that are emergent issues. Most people monitoring their diabetes will keep a record of blood sugars and targets. This information should give you a better idea of the cause of someone's confusion. It should not be used as a diagnostic tool.
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Contacts for common benefits are listed below. Call Email dcs. Call Email customerservice. Break the task down into simple steps. You may find it helpful to give the person written instructions. Call your doctor if any of the following occur during home treatment:.
You can sometimes reduce the impact of age-related memory problems. The saying "use it or lose it" applies to your memory. Your best defense against a memory problem is to stay healthy and fit. To prepare for your appointment, see the topic Making the Most of Your Appointment. You can help your doctor diagnose and treat your condition by being prepared to answer the following questions:. Blahd Jr. Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: William H. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor.
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Updated visitor guidelines. Confusion, Memory Loss, and Altered Alertness. Topic Overview It is not unusual to occasionally forget where you put your keys or glasses, where you parked your car, or the name of an acquaintance. Dementia is a slow decline in memory, problem-solving ability, learning ability, and judgment that may occur over several weeks to several months. Many health conditions can cause dementia or symptoms similar to dementia.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in people older than age Delirium is a sudden change in how well a person's brain is working mental status. Delirium can cause confusion, change the sleep-wake cycles, and cause unusual behavior. Delirium can have many causes, such as withdrawal from alcohol or drugs or medicines, or the development or worsening of an infection or other health problem.
Amnesia is memory loss that may be caused by a head injury, a stroke, substance abuse, or a severe emotional event, such as from combat or a motor vehicle accident. Depending upon the cause, amnesia may be either temporary or permanent. Health problems that can cause confusion or decreased alertness include: Infections, such as a urinary tract infection , respiratory infection , or sepsis.
Alzheimer's disease. Asthma or COPD , which cause a decrease in the amount of oxygen or an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood. Cardiac problems, such as heart failure , coronary artery disease , or irregular heartbeats arrhythmias , that reduce blood flow. Problems from diabetes. Kidney or liver failure , which causes high levels of toxins to build up in the blood. Malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies caused by health problems, such as alcohol use disorder Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
Mental health problems, such as depression or schizophrenia. Thyroid problems, such as hypothyroidism , myxedema coma , or hyperthyroidism.
These problems may develop from: Taking too much of a medicine overmedicating or taking medicines that may interact with each other. Overuse of medicines may be the single biggest cause of memory loss or confusion in older adults. Alcohol and medicine interactions. This is a problem, especially for older adults, who may take many medicines at the same time. Misusing a medicine or alcohol use disorder. Drug intoxication or the effects of withdrawal. Other causes of confusion or decreased alertness can include: A head injury.
Decreased or blocked blood flow to the brain. This may occur during a transient ischemic attack TIA or a stroke. Infection, such as a brain abscess, encephalitis , meningitis , or sepsis. Sexually transmitted infections , such as syphilis late-stage and human immunodeficiency virus HIV. A seizure disorder epilepsy. Brain tumors. Conditions in the environment that can cause changes in the level of consciousness include: Cold temperature exposure, leading to hypothermia.
High temperature exposure, leading to heatstroke. This especially affects older adults when their environment and routines are changed. Decreased oxygen in the blood hypoxia from high altitude.
Exposure to toxins poisons , such as carbon monoxide. Check Your Symptoms Do you have a problem with memory loss, confusion, or changes in how alert you feel?
How old are you? Are you male or female? Why do we ask this question? The medical assessment of symptoms is based on the body parts you have. If you are transgender or nonbinary, choose the sex that matches the body parts such as ovaries, testes, prostate, breasts, penis, or vagina you now have in the area where you are having symptoms.
If you have some organs of both sexes, you may need to go through this triage tool twice once as "male" and once as "female". This will make sure that the tool asks the right questions for you.
Have you had a recent head injury? Did you pass out completely lose consciousness? If you are answering for someone else: Is the person unconscious now? Are you back to your normal level of alertness? After passing out, it's normal to feel a little confused, weak, or lightheaded when you first wake up or come to. But unless something else is wrong, these symptoms should pass pretty quickly and you should soon feel about as awake and alert as you normally do.
Did the loss of consciousness occur during the past 24 hours? Could you be having symptoms of a stroke? Could you be having symptoms of a heart attack? If you're having a heart attack, there are several areas where you may feel pain or other symptoms. Has there been a decrease in how alert or aware you are or how well you can think and respond?
Is this something that is part of a medical problem you already have or that you have discussed with a doctor before?
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