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White alcohol fever, or alcohol delirium, is the most dangerous form of alcohol withdrawal disorders. It is a life-threatening condition. Symptoms of delirium can be triggered by long-term consumption of ethyl alcohol or a sudden cessation of drinking. What are the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment of alcohol delirium?

Alcoholic delirium: what is it?

Alcoholic delirium (white fever, delirium tremens, tremens delirium)is the most dangerous form of the symptoms associated with alcohol withdrawal.

White alcohol fever is technically referred to as trembling delirium or by another name - delirium tremens. It is estimated that in the population of alcohol dependent people, the risk of developing this disorder in heavy drinkers ranges from 5 to 10%. On the other hand, among patients who (for various reasons) withdraw from alcohol, it is estimated that 5% of them experience jittery delirium.

Alcoholic delirium: symptoms

The symptoms of white alcohol fever usually develop within 72 hours of stopping drinking alcohol and last for up to two or three days.

Symptoms of delirium tremens include:

  • disturbance of allopsychic orientation (i.e. related to the environment in which the patient stays),
  • significant arousal,
  • strong mood swings,
  • delusions (usually unsystematic and in no way related to each other),
  • hallucinations (most often in the form of auditory and visual hallucinations - this is where the popular saying about seeing "white mice" by alcoholics comes from),
  • strong anxiety,
  • inversion of the sleep-wake rhythm (the most active patients may become during the night),
  • fever,
  • nausea and vomiting,
  • tachycardia,
  • sweating,
  • convulsions,
  • increase in blood pressure,
  • rapid breathing,
  • muscle tremors.

Delirium tremens can occur in a variety of situations - patients may experience such an episode both at home and in any other setting. A special situation concerns hospitalization - it happens that patients in hospital (due to he alth restrictions) suddenly stop drinking alcohol.

Win this case, they may develop white alcohol fever - when there is no known medical history of the patient drinking too much alcohol, it may be difficult for hospital staff to understand why the patient's condition suddenly deteriorated.

Alcoholic delirium: reasons

The main cause of alcohol delirium is a change in the rhythm of alcohol consumption. White alcohol fever may appear especially in people who:

  • significantly reduced (compared to the previous one) the amount of alcohol drunk daily,
  • have been drinking too much alcohol for a long time,
  • are burdened with problems other than alcoholism (e.g. hypokalemia or acquired morphological defects of the brain),
  • are older,
  • suffer from some kind of chronic disease,
  • have had an episode of delirium tremens in the past.

A sudden reduction in the supply of alcohol to the body has various consequences and it is because of them that it may lead to the occurrence of alcohol delirium.

Regular alcohol consumption makes the body "get used to" the presence of this substance in it. The changes concern, among others the system of receptors and neurotransmitters in the nervous system. One of the most important receptors in the pathogenesis of white alcohol fever is the GABA-A receptor.

Constant consumption of alcohol stimulates the activity of this receptor, and it works by inducing hyperpolarization, due to the influx of chloride ions inside neurons, inhibits the functioning of the nervous system.

In a situation where the patient suddenly stops drinking alcohol, the systems changed as a result of addiction experience complete dysregulation - the factor responsible for inhibiting the nervous system is missing, which causes the predominance of transmitters stimulating its activity and white fever develops.

Alcoholic delirium: diagnostics

The information that the patient has been abusing alcohol for a long time is most important when determining whether a patient's ailments are caused by white alcohol fever. Sometimes you can find out from the patient's family, but it also happens that the patient is a lonely person, and it is not possible to obtain information about addictions from him.

This situation significantly hinders the diagnostic procedure, because in the course of delirium tremens there are no symptoms that would unambiguously allow the diagnosis of alcohol delirium. In such cases, there is a need to differentiate itcondition with other entities that can potentially cause ailments, such as meningitis, thyroid crisis or neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

In order to exclude the above-mentioned diseases and other potential causes of symptoms, the patient may undergo various types of laboratory tests (e.g. blood tests or even cerebrospinal fluid tests), imaging tests (such as computed tomography of the head or resonance imaging). magnetic) and other procedures, such as electroencephalography (EEG).

Alcoholic delirium: treatment

White alcohol fever, due to its possible consequences (such as e.g. cardiopulmonary collapse), is considered a life-threatening condition and should be treated in a hospital setting. Benzodiazepines play a fundamental role in the treatment of bitter delirium. diazepam and lorazepam. It is also recommended that patients be given high doses of vitamin B1 and intravenous fluids.

Depending on the severity of various ailments, patients with white alcohol fever may also be given other medications. In the case of exceptionally strong agitation and severe psychotic symptoms, agents from the group of neuroleptics may be used, while in people with particularly pronounced seizures, anticonvulsants may be administered.

Patients with alcoholic delirium must be closely monitored as they are at increased risk of, inter alia, heart rhythm disturbances, aspiration pneumonia and respiratory depression.

Alcoholic delirium: prognosis

The greatest threat to patients' lives is when the white alcohol fever is not treated. When a patient is admitted quickly enough, deaths from tremor delirium are seen in less than 5% of experiencing patients.

Bow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.

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Category:

Psychology