Wes Ely

hands of elderly white woman in hospital with oxygen monitor on finger and iv in arm

Sedative-associated delirium increases risk of dementia

A Vanderbilt study of more than 1,000 intensive care unit patients around the country, nearly three-fourths of whom experienced delirium, showed that many drugs given to sedate patients in the ICU are actually increasing their chances of — and duration of — delirium instead of helping them recover.

Alzheimer’s proteins in ICU survivors

The cognitive impairment that affects patients who survive a stay in the ICU does not appear to have a similar mechanism to Alzheimer’s disease, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

ICU monitor and bed

Study finds cognitive deficits common after critical illness

Patients treated in intensive care units across the globe enter their medical care with no evidence of cognitive impairment but often leave with deficits similar to those seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that persist for at least a year, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Five elected to Association of American Physicians

Grant to bolster care of ventilated ICU patients

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have received a $2.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to continue studying ways to improve sedation management for intensive care unit patients who are on mechanical ventilators.

1 2