Indianapolis, June 3, 2011 -- Top researchers clinicians and administrators from across the country will gather in Indianapolis beginning this weekend to take a closer look at the causes and treatments for delirium, a condition that at least seven million hospitalized Americans suffer from each year.
The American Delirium Society’s (ADS) inaugural conference, Advancing Delirium Care through Research, will take place June 5 through June 7 at the Downtown Omni Severin Hotel. The conference is being hosted by Wishard Health Services, Regenstrief Institute, the IU Center for Aging Research and Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.
The scientific conference provides the first opportunity to bring internationally recognized experts together to share information on delirium as a threat to the health and independence of older adults. Delirium is a state of confusion in which the individual has undergone a sudden alteration of mental status. Delirium is not dementia, but individuals with dementia are more susceptible to developing delirium during hospitalization than individuals without dementia.
"Having delirium prolongs the length of a hospital stay, increases the risk of post-hospitalization transfer to a nursing home, doubles the risk of death, and increases the vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease. We as a scientific community need to commit our research effort to protect the brains of older adults from the burden of delirium and set a goal of reducing the delirium burden by half within the next two decades," said Dr. Malaz Boustani, medical director of the Wishard Healthy Aging Brain Center and a Regenstrief Institute investigator.
Dr. Boustani is also an IU Center for Aging Research scientist and a geriatrician who has published several research studies on delirium in hospitalized older adults. He is also president-elect of the ADS and assumes presidency of the organization at the inaugural meeting.
"Since delirium affects older patients in the ICU, hospital, rehabilitation units and nursing homes, it needs to be monitored like other vital signs. A system should be put in place so that monitoring is routine for older patients," said ADS president Dr. James Rudolph of Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Many drugs frequently prescribed to older adults for a variety of common medical conditions including allergies, hypertension, asthma and cardiovascular disease appear to negatively affect the aging brain causing delirium.
For vulnerable older adults, developing a urinary tract infection or taking an over-the-counter drug with anti-cholinergic effects (including many popular brands of sleeping pills) may lead to delirium. Less vulnerable individuals may require a more major incident, such as a stroke or heart attack, to trigger delirium.