Delirium
In delirium the patient is mentally confused, restless, anxious, unable to cooperate; his speech is not sensible and his imagination may be out of control.
Delirium may appear in so many serious conditions that its occurrence gives little help in diagnosing the patient's illness.
The occurrence of delirium hinges on several factors: the height of the patient's fever, what drugs he has received, his condition of general health, his temperament, and the nature of his illness.
Delirium can be caused by any factor which adversely alters the metabolism of the nerve cells in the brain. These include intoxication by alcohol or by atropine. bromides, or barbiturates. Poisoning by lead, carbon monoxide. Or household or industrial poisons may be the cause. Delirium may occur in severe systemic infections or in diseases which disturb the body's metabolic processes. such as uremia, diabetes, severe loss of fluid, liver disease, heart failure, and pernicious anemia. It occurs in infections involving the brain or its coverings, in head injury, or even in conditions which alter the brain's supply of blood.
