CCRN Infectious Encephalopathy

CCRN Infectious Encephalopathy Overview

Encephalopathy means damage or disease that affects the brain. It happens when there’s been a change in the way your brain works or a change in your body that affects your brain. Those changes lead to an altered mental state, leaving you confused and not acting like you usually do.

Encephalopathy is not a single disease but a group of disorders with several causes. It’s a serious health problem that, without treatment, can cause temporary or permanent brain damage.

It’s easy to confuse encephalopathy with encephalitis. The words sound similar, but they are different conditions. In encephalitis, the brain itself is swollen or inflamed. Encephalopathy, on the other hand, refers to the mental state that can happen because of several types of health problems. But encephalitis can cause encephalopathy.

Signs and Symptoms

The symptoms you have depend on the type and cause of your encephalopathy, but some of the most common ones are:

• Confusion
• Memory loss
• Personality changes
• Trouble thinking clearly or focusing
• Trouble speaking
• Muscle weakness or twitches they can’t control
• Eye movements they can’t control
• Tremors
• Trouble swallowing
• Sleepiness
• Seizures

Causes

Physical Injury

• When encephalopathy results from repeated trauma, it is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
• Trauma to the head may lead to nerve damage that affects brain function. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy can develop following multiple brain traumas or injuries over time. These may result from a series of accidents or blows to the head.
• People in the military or who play contact sports may have a higher risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Toxins

• If toxins build up in the blood and reach the brain, they can cause damage. This may result from an underlying condition, infection, or exposure to toxic chemicals.

Hypertension

• If a person does not receive treatment for high blood pressure, it can lead to swelling in the brain. When this results in a brain injury, it is called hypertensive encephalopathy.

Lack of Oxygen

• If the brain does not get enough oxygen, a person may experience brain damage. Encephalopathy caused in this way is called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Vitamin B-1 Deficiency

• When a person has a vitamin B-1 deficiency, they can develop a type of brain disease called Wernicke encephalopathy.

Treatment

Medications to stop seizures or reduce ammonia levels
Stopping a medication you’ve been taking
Changing the foods you eat
Nutritional supplements
Dialysis or an organ transplant if liver or kidney problems are causing your condition