Mental Health Flashcards
What are the different types of memory
Working memory (very short term)
Short term (minutes/hours)
Long term memory (lifelong)
Define delirium
Acute, reversible brain dysfunction:
Confusion, disorientation, disorganised thinking, poor concentration
Risk factors for delirium
Age, dementia, sensory impairment, short-term precipitating factors
Describe short-term precipitating factors for delirium
new drugs, metabolic disturbance (Glucose, Na, K, Ca), pain, surgery, stroke, infection
Management for delirium
Treat underlying cause (hypoxia, pain, electrolytes)
Manage environment: make sure clocks/calendars visible, manage light and noise, encourage normal sleeping pattern
What is the difference between delirium and dementia?
Dementia insidious onset, delirium acute
Dementia no change in consciousness, delirium affect conscious levels
Dementia is progressive, delirium is fluctuating
Risk factors to dementia
Age, genetics, M>F, smoking, alcohol
What are the different types of dementia?
Alzhiemer’s, vascular dementia, mixed
What is Alzhiemer’s?
Most common type of dementia, caused by significant reduction in brain volume caused by amyloid protein plaques
What is vascular dementia?
Dementia caused by reduced perfusion of the brain (atherosclerosis, small strokes)
Management of dementia
No cure
some drugs can slow process of cognitive decline
Psychological + behavioural support
What is the MMSE?
Mini-mental state exam
What is on the MMSE?
- simple questions (day/month/season/year is it)
- positioning questions (what floor/building/town/country)
- give lists/ memory recall tests
- ask them to count backwards from 100 in 7s
- ask pt to repeat a sentence
What is the safe limit of alcohol?
there isn’t one
What is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome?
A disorder caused from a Vit B1 malnutrition caused by drinking
group of Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff psychosis
