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? Is the problem:. Quickly getting worse over minutes to hours? Slowly getting worse over days? Staying about the same not better or worse? Getting better? Getting worse? Staying the same not better or worse? Do you feel or have you recently felt confused in a way that is not normal for you?
Are you having trouble breathing more than a stuffy nose? Would you describe the problem as severe, moderate, or mild? Do you think that the confusion may be caused by poisoning or by an alcohol or drug overdose? Have you had muscle movements that you can't control, like twitching, shaking, or other repeated motions? One or more episodes of unexplained, purposeless, repeated body movement. Do you have epilepsy or a history of seizures?
Are the symptoms you're having now different than your usual seizure symptoms? Are you back to normal now and not feeling confused? Have you had problems with memory loss? Have you had a sudden and complete loss of memory? Do you think that a medicine may be affecting your memory? Think about whether the memory problems started when you began using a new medicine or a higher dose of a medicine. Are you having problems with judgment or problem solving? Are these symptoms new?
Are these symptoms causing problems in your daily life? Have you had problems with memory loss, confusion, or alertness for more than 2 weeks?
Memory loss, confusion, or changes in alertness for more than 2 weeks. These include: Your age. Babies and older adults tend to get sicker quicker. Your overall health. If you have a condition such as diabetes, HIV, cancer, or heart disease, you may need to pay closer attention to certain symptoms and seek care sooner.
Medicines you take. Certain medicines, such as blood thinners anticoagulants , medicines that suppress the immune system like steroids or chemotherapy, herbal remedies, or supplements can cause symptoms or make them worse.
Recent health events , such as surgery or injury. These kinds of events can cause symptoms afterwards or make them more serious. Your health habits and lifestyle , such as eating and exercise habits, smoking, alcohol or drug use, sexual history, and travel.
Try Home Treatment You have answered all the questions. Try home treatment to relieve the symptoms. Call your doctor if symptoms get worse or you have any concerns for example, if symptoms are not getting better as you would expect. You may need care sooner.
Symptoms of a heart attack may include: Chest pain or pressure, or a strange feeling in the chest. Shortness of breath. Nausea or vomiting. Pain, pressure, or a strange feeling in the back, neck, jaw, or upper belly, or in one or both shoulders or arms.
Lightheadedness or sudden weakness. A fast or irregular heartbeat. Problems with memory, judgment, or problem solving include things like: Frequently misplacing items you use often unless you have always done this.
Getting lost while walking or driving in a place you know well. Having more trouble with tasks you used to be able to do without difficulty, like balancing your checkbook or preparing a meal. Confusion may range from mild to severe. A person who is confused may: Be unable to express his or her thoughts clearly.
Have trouble solving problems and performing simple tasks. Express firmly held but false beliefs delusions. See, hear, feel, smell, or taste things that are not really there hallucinations or illusions.
Believe that others want to harm him or her paranoia. Symptoms of a stroke may include: Sudden numbness, tingling, weakness, or paralysis in your face, arm, or leg, especially on only one side of your body. Sudden vision changes. Sudden trouble speaking. Sudden confusion or trouble understanding simple statements.
Sudden problems with walking or balance. A sudden, severe headache that is different from past headaches. Many prescription and nonprescription medicines can affect your memory. A few examples are: Antidepressants. Medicines for bladder control problems anticholinergics.
Symptoms of difficulty breathing can range from mild to severe. For example: You may feel a little out of breath but still be able to talk mild difficulty breathing , or you may be so out of breath that you cannot talk at all severe difficulty breathing. Severe trouble breathing means: You cannot talk at all. You have to work very hard to breathe. You feel like you can't get enough air. You do not feel alert or cannot think clearly. Moderate trouble breathing means: It's hard to talk in full sentences.
It's hard to breathe with activity. Mild trouble breathing means: You feel a little out of breath but can still talk. It's becoming hard to breathe with activity. Seek Care Now Based on your answers, you may need care right away. Call your doctor now to discuss the symptoms and arrange for care.
Get medical help immediately if someone suddenly becomes confused delirious. Try asking the person their name, their age and today's date. If they seem unsure or cannot answer you, they probably need medical help. It could be a sign of dementia. The symptoms of dementia often start gradually and get worse over time. Confusion as a symptom, what could that possibly mean? Troy Madsen on The Scope.
Interviewer: Dr. Troy Madsen is an emergency physician at University of Utah Healthcare. Madsen, as far as symptoms go, if somebody seems confused all of a sudden, whether it is myself or somebody I'm with, what could be the underlying cause of that?
For example, with elderly people I know a urinary tract infection can cause confusion, which blew me away. Madsen: Right. You know, the average person, and we'll try not to get into the elderly people too much here because that's. Let's say we've got the average person out there. Let's say it's a year-old male who normally, has no health issues and just suddenly seems confused.
This can be very challenging but for me this is where vital signs are vital. I'm looking at the vital signs because that's what is really going to point me in one direction or another. First of all, I talk to the person.
Yeah, let's say they just seem like they're not quite there. They're not answering questions appropriately. Of course I want to know, did they have anything happen? Were they injured? Did they have a head injury? Are they using any drugs or medications?
0コメント