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Effects of dementia on the individual
Possible effects of Dementia on an individual’s health
Possible effects of Dementia on an individual’s health
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The definition of Alzheimer’s is “A progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions.” The definition of Dementia is “A group of thinking and social symptoms that interfere with daily functioning.”. Alzheimer’s and Dementia are often compared to each other but they are two different diseases. Both of the diseases are usually found in the Jurassic age group. These two diseases can be compared and contrasted with: Treatment plans, examples, and signs and symptoms. Furthermore, the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's is “aggression, agitation, difficulty with self-care, irritability, meaningless repetition of own words, personality changes, restlessness, lack of restraint, or wandering and getting lost”. A lot of
Alzheimer’s has no current cure, but there treatments available for the symptoms. Treatments cannot stop alzheimer’s from developing but they can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve their live quality. Medicines like Cholinesterase inhibitors, and Memantine are to help with memory.Drugs don’t consistently help relieve the symptoms, so there are also Non -drug treatments, like managing their environment and establishing a routine to help minimize stress and anxiety. In the first stage of Alzheimer the person phases a lot of emotional stages that are very challenging and distressing. In early stages people experience irritability,Anxiety and depression. “What are the complications?” is a question commonly asked , and they are an infinite number of complications. Let start with depression, most people become depressed when they realize that they are losing their memories and abilities to do the basic things. The second complication i would say is illness or medicine side effects. This disease makes communicating harder for the person, they might be in pain but not been able to tell the nurse. Falling is another one, alzheimer can cause changes in balance and coordination, which might led to broken bones , head trauma or other injuries.Pneumonia and other infections, Alzheimer 's can also cause a loss of body functions , like swallowing or bladder control. This can cause for the person
Contrary to common belief, Dementia is not a disease, it is a term that encompasses a collection of symptoms. These symptoms are associated with numerous diseases that involve the impairment of cognitive functions (DoH, 2013).
While there is little difference between dementia and Alzheimer it is important to distinguish the two. Dementia is, “ a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life” (Alzheimer Association, 2014). While Alzheimer is, “is a ...
Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia which is a brain disorder that impairs mental functioning. Dementia attacks the part of the brain which controls memory, language, and thought. It makes everyday tasks like remembering to brushing your teeth, or to pay your bills next to impossible to do, which is why so many people who are diagnosed with this disease are in complete care. This disease has different phases, the first being slight forgetfulness and then the persons emotions may heighten as well as language impairment, violent outbursts, loss of bladder control and from there it keeps getting worse until complete dysfunction of the brain occurs and eventually death, which most of the time is the result of infection.
III. Examining Alzheimer's Disease By definition, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable degenerative disease of the brain. AD is a progressive dementing illness in which the core symptom is long-term memory loss (Tueth, 1995). Other associated symptoms include impairments in language, abstract reasoning, and visual spatial abilities as previously described in dementia. Personality changes are common and range from apathy to restless agitation.
So, as we can see here synaptic loss is not just age related and we can see this relationship through the evidence of the parts of the brains affected as well as a study that looks at an actual comparison of synapses. The comparison is between people with no cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, and early Alzheimer’s disease. Mild cognitive impairment is a type of impairment within the brain that can cause a slight but noticeable decline in cognitive abilities. These abilities include memory and thinking skills. These patients are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s and that is why they were also looked at in this research (Scheff, Price, Schmitt & Mufson, 2005). One of the major research findings that led to this study was that patients with Alzheimer’s disease seemed to have a loss of synaptic contacts in their neocortex and hippocampus. This loss of synaptic contacts demonstrates an association with cognitive ability and correlates strongly with dementia. It was unknown whether patients with mild cognitive impairment had significant synaptic loss compared to those with no cognitive impairment.
Alzheimer's affects people in different ways, each person will experience symptoms or progress through Alzheimer's stages differently.
Alzheimer is a progressive disease of the brain that causes memory and cognitive function loss. Alzheimer symptoms are apathy, difficulty remembering recent events, depression, disorientation, behavioral changes, and difficulty speaking, swallowing
Dementia is a common syndrome found among elderly over the globe. Talking about dementia, the first word emerge from mind is “loss”. Learning about the disease manifestation, it is known that dementia does bring a huge impact to the affected senior so as the caregiver. Many of us used to focus on the losses of dementia client which indeed causing a labeling effect. Remembered in the first lesson, a question “As a case manager, what will you do to help the client with dementia and the family?” was asked. I realized my answer is “Refer the client to suitable care unit”. It seems that my original thought deprived the elderly as I failed to think of other better solution like assisting them to age in the community. Although dementia leads to certain kinds of loss to people with dementia, their needs and strengths should not be neglected. Institutionalization thus may not the best solution. To serve the elderly, I need to modify my thought by adopting a strength-based approach. Practice should not mutually focus on the losses, but to explore more on the possibilities. Boosting the quality of life is also an important issue, empowering the client by bear in mind that “we are not only work for the service users, but work with them”.
Personality as you aged never changes the personality you have as a child all the way up to when you get older. There might be a few changes as you get older but if you were a very nice person when you were younger there is a chance that you are going to be that way when you get older. However there are diseases that can cause a person’s personality to be completely different. Maybe they enjoyed a certain activity when they were younger but as Alzheimer’s and dementia start to kick in they forget all the things they loved.
Dementia is a broad term but it technically describes a wide range of symptoms. It is basically a term associated with memory loss or impairment and decline in a person’s mental ability (Webmd. n.d.). Its symptoms decrease a person’s mental function, which leads to loss of memory, changes in a person’s mood or personality, or changes in behavior (Webmd. n.d.). Alzheimer’s Association (2012) defines dementia as “Disorders grouped under the general term are caused by abnormal brain changes. These changes trigger a decline in thinking skills severe enough to impair daily life and independent function. They also affect behavior, feelings, and relationships.” Alzheimer’s is typically associated with this group of symptom but a person that has Parkinson’s disease can also suffer from this trait. Dementia develops due to the impairment that happens in a person’s
People that are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s are usually symptom free. Reports show that the
Introduction This assignment critically discusses dementia, a widespread disability among older adults today. It provides an introduction to dementia and analyses its prevalence in society. The various forms of dementia are elaborated with descriptions of dysfunctions and symptoms. Nursing Assessment and Interventions are provided in the further sections which discuss actions nurses should take while evaluating patients and treating them.
Dementia is a major neurocognitive disorder that interferes with the independence of the elderly by inhibiting memory and thinking skills. Fifty to eighty percent of dementia cases constitute of Alzheimer’s diagnoses; consequently Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia and currently affects 5.2 million Americans. Most of these cases are patients above the age of 65 and by 2050; 13.8 million Americans in total will suffer Alzheimer’s due to aging of the general population, specifically the baby boomers. Total cost to society ranges from $157- $215 billion (Associated Press). Some would assume the cost of Alzheimer’s to be incurred by pharmaceuticals or medical costs, however RAND Corp suggests dementia cost to society is from care rather than treatment. Therefore, assistance provided by informal providers and directs caregivers incur a majority of the financial and social cost. Currently, the workforce does not have the capacity or training to care for these unique patients; the delivery system needs to address Alzheimer’s as the population ages and more and more fam...
Alzheimer’s Disease is formed in the brain but yet, has no known cure or treatment. Alzheimer’s Disease has many symptoms. Memory is the biggest symptom along with mood swings and having a hard time with keeping a conversation. A patient with Alzheimer’s goes through 7 stages; The first stage, which is misplacing things or forgetting what something is used for, second stage, they start losing more of their memory and they begin to forget where they are or what they are doing, the third, fourth and fifth begin to mentally decline and need someone to take care of them and worsen over time.The sixth stage they begin to have an even more difficult time going to the bathroom and cleaning themselves or using electronic devices such as phones or televisions. The final stage, at which the long goodbye comes to an end, they now are mentally and physically gone. Some doctors prescribe medication to the patients to help deal with some of the symptoms.