OCT 4, a brief saga (organic brain poetry): metabolic delirium

Authors' Note: The authors were surprised, on researching this point, to learn that urgent hospital admissions in patients with unsuspected cancer in the late metastatic phase are commonly triggered by symptoms of delirium. Among metabolic determinants, sometimes hypercalcemia (elevated blood calcium level) is found, but the cause of delirium may remain undiscovered. Hyponatremia (a low serum sodium level ) characterizes a relatively frequent metabolic derangement, not specifically linked to cancer, that may cause confusion, and even delirium or seizures, in elderly patients eating diets low in protein and salt.

This verse belongs to a series on organic causes of neuropsychiatric symptoms, the others being frontal meningioma, hypothyroid depression, general paresis of the insane, cerebral metastases, beriberi and high-dose steroids.

 For the purpose of this blog, a 'brief saga' is defined as a poem, usually narrative, but occasionally expository, that tell its story in at least 15 lines. Most commonly, the format involves three stanzas in limerick form, constituting a single submission to the online humor site 'Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form'. On the OEDILF site, rigorous standards for content and format are involved in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year. 

 Generally, OEDILF has not been enormously welcoming of multi-verse submissions, but Giorgio Coniglio has persisted, and there are now over 90 of these multi-verse poems feature in his "Author's Showcase". The  OEDILF number for each accepted multiverse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. We have been blog-publishing these poetic adventures here monthly.