Delirium has many potential causes, including, but not limited to:

• Medications or drug interactions
• Substance use, including alcohol
• Substance withdrawal
• Pain or a traumatic event, such as a fall or fracture
• Dehydration or malnutrition
• Anemia
• Constipation or urinary retention
• General anesthetic
• Sensory impairment, such as hearing or visual problems
• Sleep deprivation

So, something as simple as dehydration can be mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, easily treatable conditions often are mistaken for dementia. In an article he wrote for BrightFocus Foundation, Dr. James M. Ellison recounts an early case in which a woman was admitted to the hospital for dementia treatment. Mrs. M had recently undergone cataract surgery, and was reportedly “sharp as a tack” before her procedure. Dr. Ellison recognized the very distinct possibility that it was not dementia but delirium that was causing the woman’s confusion and personality changes.

Recognizing Delirium

Delirium usually comes on suddenly and progresses rapidly, as it did in the case of Dr. Ellison’s patient. Conversely, most cases of dementia develop over time. (There are exceptions.) Memory problems resulting from Alzheimer’s, for example, are first very mild, and may take years to develop to the degree that they effect one’s ability to care for oneself.

When the post-surgery patches were removed from her eyes a few days later, Mrs. M’s cognitive status returned quickly. In this case, the cause of the delirium was discovered easily once her sight was restored. However, what if the visual impairment she experienced were not so easily discovered?

Diseases and conditions that cause dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease, are generally considered to be incurable.  Had Mrs. M’s condition not been recognized and her initial diagnosis of dementia stuck, she could possibly have been relegated to a regimen of Namenda and antipsychotic drugs, that could very well have worsened her symptoms.

Kris Kristofferson’s dementia proved to be Lyme disease.

Misdiagnoses are probably not rare

They happens, these misdiagnoses; and they are not always so quickly discovered.  Singer/songwriter and screen actor, Kris Kristofferson has been called one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Kris was diagnosed with dementia, probably of the Alzheimer’s type, several years ago.

In a People magazine interview published in November, 2016, Kris was quoted to say, “I wish my memory weren’t so bad. They tell me it’s from all the football and boxing and the concussions that I got. A couple of years ago, my memory just started going. But I can remember my songs, so I can perform but other than that… ”

Because of the sports he played when in school, dementia pugilistica, also known as boxer’s dementia, was another possible explanation for Kris’s condition. Regardless of the underlying cause, Kristofferson was treated with a typical assemblage of drugs often prescribed to control symptoms of dementia.

In an interview published  July 6, 2016 HUFFPOST, Kris’s wife, Lisa recounted some of the symptoms leading up to the initial diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease:

He could always remember songs, music is deeply embedded in the brain. The first thing I noticed was that he lost his keen sense of smell. The next thing I noticed was his spatial awareness was off. Like, if he would come out of the men’s room in the airport, he would start looking around and having no idea where to go. I had to watch him constantly, it was very consistent with Alzheimer’s. And he would do these mini-mental status tests where they have you remember certain presidents and things like that, and he was consistently failing them.

Conditions that mimic Alzheimer’s | Lyme Disease

More than two years after Kris’s diagnosis, one of his doctors saw something in his behavior that prompted him to test Kris for Lyme disease. The test came back positive. Now, Lyme disease is no fun. Carried by black-legged ticks,it is a serious bacterial infection with a long list of possible symptoms, some quite severe.

A Partial List of Symptoms of Lyme Disease

Conditions that mimic Alzheimer’s disease | Lyme disease is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.

Lyme disease can affect the brain and the nervous system, causing symptoms like:

• problems remembering names or words
• confusion, difficulty thinking
• mood swings
• insomnia and sleep disorders
• difficulty concentrating
• disorientation
• using the wrong words
• hallucination
• “brain fog”
• delusions, paranoia
• difficulty following conversations

This is only a partial list, but it is easy to see why Lyme disease is often confused with dementia.

See also THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS

Compare to typical Alzheimer’s Symptoms

Some good news: unlike dementia, Lyme disease is treatable.  Discovering that he had the bacterial infection and not an irreversible condition affecting his brain certainly made a difference in the lives of Kris and his wife, Lisa. From a 2016 Rolling Stone article by Neil Strauss: “He was taking all these medications for things he doesn’t have, and they all have side effects,” [Lisa] says. She is wearing one of her husband’s tour merchandise shirts.

After he gave up his Alzheimer’s and depression pills and went through three weeks of Lyme-disease treatment, Lisa was shocked. “All of a sudden he was back,” she says. There are still bad days, but “some days he’s perfectly normal and it’s easy to forget that he is even battling anything.”

That was over a year ago. I know Kris is touring, but have been unable to find a recent update of his condition. We can hope that he is improving. We can be sure that he is better than if he really had dementia, as his earlier diagnosis indicated.

There is plenty of reason to believe that a lot of people are living now with curable or treatable conditions who have been diagnosed with one or another dementia. People like Jim MacMahon and Kris Kristofferson. Dr. Ellison’s patient, Mrs. M., was lucky in that her dementia-like symptoms went away quickly when her eye-patches were removed. Not all conditions that mimic Alzheimer’s disease go away without specific treatment.

Read more about conditions that mimic Alzheimer’s /dementia

Reasons for getting an early diagnosis if you suspect dementia

 Importance of and early diagnosis; Alzheimer’s & Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin

Benefits of early dementia diagnosis

Jim MacMahon’s struggle with normal pressure hydrocephalus

Wiederer, Dan (January 27, 2016) After significant breakthrough, ex-Bear Jim McMahon finds agony lessening; Chicago Tribune.

More about Kris Kristofferson’s battle with Lyme disease

Neil Straus, Neil (June 6, 2016). Ksris Kristofferson: An Outlaw at 80; Rolling Stone.

Parish, Dana (07/06/2016) . A Slow Slipping Away— Kris Kristofferson’s Long-Undiagnosed Battle with Lyme Disease; HuffPost.

Marcus, Mary Brophy (July 20, 2016) Kris Kristofferson’s Lyme disease misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s CBS News.