...In “Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease”, the author, Shan, discusses how even though Alzheimer’s disease was identified more than 100 years ago, there is still much to learn and understand about the etiology, pathogenesis, treatment, management, and prevention of the disease. The article highlights that diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is a difficult task, especially during the earlier stages of the disease. In this article, Alzheimer’s disease is clearly defined at each stage of onset and the prevalence of the disorder is mentioned. The article also notes that effective treatments for Alzheimer’s are impalpable and require further empirical research. The rest of the article reviews the evidence and proposed theories about the course of the disease...
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...The Devastation of Dementia: Pathophysiology and Case Study Introduction Relatively little is known about dementia, a disease which affects over 35 million people worldwide (Norton, et al., 2012). Early signs and symptoms may be confused with the “normal” aging process. Those with the disease often try to cover up their mental decline in the early stages, making early diagnosis even more difficult. Educating the medical community and the general population about the signs, symptoms and causes of dementia is an important step in seeking out a cure for this fatal disease. Dementia is a general term for a syndrome that is progressive in nature and is marked by deterioration in cognitive function that is greater than what would normally be expected. There are many types of dementia, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease accounts for over 60% of the cases of dementia. Vascular Dementia is the second most common form. Others include Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinsonian Dementia, and Frontotemporal Dementia. There is no cure for any type of dementia, although there are treatments that help lessen the symptoms. Dementia is a progressive disorder and always results in death, either from complications such as falls" or pneumonia or the dementia itself. The number of people with dementia worldwide is expected to reach over 115 million by the year 2050. The current cost of treating dementia is over 1.5 times that of all cancers combined (Hurd...
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...[pic] Away From Her Unit Assignment I. Summary of Movie A. Give a summary of the plot and characters and the story that unfolds in this movie. Give a detailed description of the main characters’ personalities, culture, socioeconomic and historical contexts, their relationships, set the stage of “who they are’ when the movie begins, and then tell the story of what happens over the course of the film. Away from Her is a motion picture designed to depict a realistic story of the challenges individuals must face when a family member is diagnosed and is experiencing the effects of Alzheimer's disease. The onset of the film describes the lives of Fiona and Grant Anderson, who had been married for over forty-four years. They lived in Fiona's grandparent's home in Ontario for most of their marriage, and shared similar interests in their hobby's and lifestyle. The movie progresses by depicting their routine ski trekking on a frozen lake and casual readings together. The purpose of depicting aspects of their everyday life was to enhance the sharp contrast in Fiona's behaviors as her Alzheimer's progressed. At first, Grant believed that her moments of forgetfulness were just that, but the occurrences became more drastic over time. The turning point that clearly demonstrated Fiona's Alzheimer development was her wandering across the forest in the freezing cold, where Grant had to drive around town to find her looking at the sights over a bridge far from...
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...OUTCOME IN THE LATE STAGE OF ALZHEIMER DISEASE Name: Institution: A business plan describing evidence-based intervention to improve outcome in the late stage of Alzheimer disease Executive summary According to the “British Medical Journal (BMJ)” on the subject “Care plans for individuals with Alzheimer disease: Intuitively a good idea but hard to prove they are effective in practice.” It is seen that teaching based intervention for Alzheimer care are suggested by large professional organizations although it is not evident on who should undertake these models to the patients. Care plans replicas along with the guidelines usually do have the stated objectives of delaying an illness development and functional beg off (Schneider, 2016). Alzheimer is illustrated by momentous impairments in several cognitive areas, functioning as well as the behavioral burden. Premature revealing, as well as management, can avert overuse of expensive healthcare resources and permit the affected people and caregivers the time to prepare for the prospect financial, medical along with the emotional confronts. This planning proposal offers the right measures concerning the evidence-based intervention to improve outcome in the late stage of Alzheimer disease. Among the cited evidence-based intervention that the business proposes to employ in combating the new stage of the disease do include the use of physical along...
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...Alzheimer’s - A Progressive, Degenerative Disorder Alzheimers- A Progressive, Degenerative Disorder Imagine a wife and husband being married for 44 years and having one of them not remember who the other is, or their past life together. The film Away From Her (Egoyan, et al., 2006) shows viewers how the disease can greatly impact your life, and how quickly it can form. The film was based off of a short story “The Bear Came over the Mountain” by Alice Munro (Munro, 2013). In both works, the author and the director portray a significant struggle between a husband and wife dealing with Alzheimer’s. Summary of Story In the short story “The Bear Came over the Mountain” (Munro, 2013) and the film Away From Her (Egoyan, et al., 2006), both authors portray almost the same points. The main characters, Fiona Anderson and her husband Grant Anderson, have been married for forty four years. Fiona’s brain has been slowly deteriorating due to her disease, Alzheimer’s. Fiona and her husband decide that she has gone past the point of no return and needs more supervised care. They check her into Meadowlake facility and Grant is told that he cannot see Fiona for thirty days, so she can get acclimated to her surroundings. He returns after the 30 days to find that his wife has forgotten who he was and has connected with another patient named Aubrey (Egoyan, et al., 2006). Short Story vs. Film The short story (Munro, 2013) and the film (Egoyan, et al., 2006) are similar in writing and characters...
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...Dementia Supporting people with dementia and their carers in health and social care Issued: November 2006 NICE clinical guideline 42 guidance.nice.org.uk/cg42 NICE has accredited the process used by the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE to produce guidelines. Accreditation is valid for 5 years from September 2009 and applies to guidelines produced since April 2007 using the processes described in NICE's 'The guidelines manual' (2007, updated 2009). More information on accreditation can be viewed at www.nice.org.uk/accreditation © NICE 2006 Dementia NICE clinical guideline 42 Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................... 4 Person-centred care ..................................................................................................................... 6 Key priorities for implementation .................................................................................................. 8 1 Guidance ................................................................................................................................... 11 1.1 Principles of care for people with dementia ...................................................................................... 11 1.2 Integrated health and social care ..................................................................................................... 17 1.3 Risk factors, prevention and early identification...
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...biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/1/3 BMC Neurology (2001) 1:3 Research article Traumatic brain injury as a risk factor for Alzheimer disease. Comparison of two retrospective autopsy cohorts with evaluation of ApoE genotype Address: 1L.Boltzmann Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, Baumgartner Hoehe 1, B-Bldg., A-1140 Vienna, Austria, 2Department of Neuropathology, University of Munster School of Medicine, Munster, Germany and 3Cognitive Neuropharmacology Unit, H.M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, Md, USA E-mail: Kurt A Jellinger* - kurt.jellinger@univie.ac.at; Werner Paulus - werner.paulus@uni-muenster.de; Christian Wrocklage - christian.wrocklage@uni-muenster.de; Irene Litvan - ilitvan@dvhip.org *Corresponding author Kurt A Jellinger*1, Werner Paulus2, Christian Wrocklage2 and Irene Litvan3 Published: 30 July 2001 BMC Neurology 2001, 1:3 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/1/3 Received: 29 June 2001 Accepted: 30 July 2001 © 2001 Jellinger et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in any medium for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL. For commercial use, contact info@biomedcentral.com Abstract Background and Purpose: The impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD) is still controversial. The aim of our retrospective autopsy study was to assess the impact of TBE and ApoE allele frequency...
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...III Parkinson disease, hypertension, and urinary incontinence (UI). She is receiving carbidopa/levodopa, pramipexole, selegiline, tolterodine, diazepam, metoprolol, and hydrochlorothiazide. When she comes to your pharmacy to get her prescriptions, she walks slowly with a cane, and she is stooped over. 1. Identify age-related pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes in older people. 2. Evaluate the pharmacotherapy regimens of older people to support the maintenance of optimal physical and mental function. 3. Identify inappropriate medication prescribing in older people. 4. Recommend appropriate pharmacotherapy for patients with dementia. 5. Evaluate the risks and benefits of the use of antipsychotics (APs) (including atypical APs) in older patients with dementia. 6. Recommend appropriate interventions for patients suffering from behavioral symptoms related to dementia. 7. Identify the types of urinary incontinence and recommend appropriate treatments. 8. Given a patient’s American Urology Association Symptom Index for benign prostatic hyperplasia, recommend appropriate therapy. 9. Recommend appropriate analgesic therapy for older patients with osteoarthritis. 10. Discuss risks and benefits of medication classes used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. 2. Which of the following is the single most important intervention you can make to reduce her risk of falls? A. Suggest to J.T. that her neurologist reassess her Parkinson disease...
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...EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE and ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE Introduction As defined in 2012 by the American Nurses Association, “nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations. “To deliver the best optimal treatment when performing their duties, nurses are taught to follow evidence-based practices (EBP). Following EBP when dealing with clients especially those affected by Alzheimer’s disease facilitates the nurse in performing his/her main responsibilities that include maintaining health promotion, risk reduction and disease management. Maintaining health promotion From Florence Nightingale era in the 19th century to today’s world, nursing has become a new field where it is just not described “as the action of putting the patient in the best condition for nature to act “(“Healing Environment,”2011). Nursing turned to an immense expertise where maintaining health promotion is a master key. Health promotion favors the enhancement of health and the setting up of plan for a healthy lifestyle and well-being (Potter and Perry, 2011). Examples of health promotion consist of encouraging immunizations and regular checkups. Risk reduction Many complications can be avoided by promoting risk...
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...got too wrapped up into drugs. I believe that my memory has not suffered from the minimal use but I have close friends that have obviously suffered memory loss due to drug use. There are other things having to do with memory loss that have impacted me and left me to really appreciate my own health. The first time I met my girlfriend’s parents I went to a family reunion with them in Indianapolis, Indiana. We stayed with her aunt and uncle. While there I was never able to meet her grandma. She went with her parents for a brief visit and I stayed with her aunt and uncle. Upon returning her dad seemed very upset. They found out a few days earlier that her Alzheimer’s was getting worse. Her grandma wasn’t even able to recognize her or her own son. This made me sad and was my first experience with Alzheimer’s disease. All of these things and more have added...
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...Professor Staab Psychology April 28, 2012 Prolonging the Inevitable Alzheimer’s disease was named after a German neuropathologist and psychiatrist by the name of Aloysius Alzheimer who is credited with identifying two symptoms of the disease; amyloid plaques and neurofribrillary tangles in the brain. It is important to understand that Alzheimer’s disease is not a type of dementia; it is simply a disease that causes dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is an incurable progressive disease that can take up to twenty years to advance, but typically takes between eight to ten painful years for the Alzheimer’s sufferer and their family. Christian Nordqvist author of What is Alzheimer’s Disease? What Causes Alzheimer’s Disease? states that “During the course of the disease plaques and tangles develop within the structure of the brain. This causes brain cells to die. Patients with Alzheimer’s also have a deficiency in the levels of some vital brain chemicals with are involved with transmission of messages in the brain – neurotransmitters” (1). The disease is typically broken down into three common stages that people experience: mild, moderate, and severe. As well as the duration, the length of each stage can vary depending on the person, as Rosemary Blieszner and Peggy A. Shifflett confirm in their article The effects of Alzheimer’s Disease on Close Relationships Between Patients and Caregivers, “This disease is very unpredictable in terms of duration and nature of symptoms, with...
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...Culture and Disease HCS 245 December 15, 2011 Dementia is not a disease on its own. It is a term used in describing a vast array of symptoms related to the decline of mental function, starting with memory loss and eventually impeding on the ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Association website, 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases are Alzheimer’s patients. Alzheimer's worsens over time. It is a progressive disease, where the symptoms gradually worsen over a period of several years. In its early stages, memory loss is minor. A person might start to forget little things, like if they turned the oven off or momentarily forget how to tie their shoes. When a person suffers from late-stage Alzheimer's, he or she loses the capability to carry on a conversation or respond to his or her environment. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Those who suffer from the disease live an average of eight years after their symptoms have progressed enough that the people around them start to notice. Although somewhere around eight years is the norm, it is not uncommon to hear of people living anywhere from four to 20 years after others notice. A big part of how fast a person declines depends on age and other health conditions. One major thing to remember is that Alzheimer's is not a normal part of aging. The greatest known risk factor for this disease is increasing...
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...Alzheimer’s Disease: Not Just Loss of Memory This is a 8 page, 10 resource paper discussing Alzheimer’s disease, discussing the history, symptoms, diagnosis and hopes for a cure of the disease. Alzheimer’s Disease: Not Just Loss of Memory Introduction Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative brain disease, is the most common cause of dementia. It currently afflicts about 4 million Americans and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Furthermore, Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of mental impairment in elderly people and accounts for a large percentage of admissions to assisted living homes, nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities. Psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations, have been reported in a large proportion of patients with this disease. In fact, it is the presence of these psychotic symptoms can lead to early institutionalization (Bassiony, et all, 2000). Learning about Alzheimer’s disease and realizing that it is much more that just a loss of memory can benefit the families of those with the disorder as well as society as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to look at the disorder, as well as to discuss the history, symptoms, diagnosis and hopes of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. History Around the turn of the century, two kinds of dementia were defined by Emil Kraepin: senile and presenile. The presenile form was described more in detail by Alois Alzheimer as a progressive deterioration of...
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...Running Head: OBSERVATION OF ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT 1 Observation of Alzheimer’s Support Group OBSERVATION OF ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT 2 Observation of Alzheimer’s Support Group On February 7, 2011 I attended the Alzheimer’s support group held at St. Roberts Adult Daycare Center in St. Charles, Missouri. Tina Joyner facilitated this group of nine caregivers and three students. There were two groups conducted simultaneously; one for the caregivers, the other for the individual who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The groups were held in different rooms in the same building, and were scheduled for a one hour time period. A guest speaker, Grace, from Washington University appeared to invite caregivers to a pilot study being conducted over a one year period which was titled Caregiver Stress Project. The purpose of the study is to measure the effect of stress on the caregiver. I had arrived early and had a chance to speak with “C”, whose wife was unable to attend. He explained that she was in the final stages and had been placed on hospice in August 2010. He told me that a nurse comes weekly, and as needed, but he provides all other care for his wife. They have a daughter who stays with her mother while “C” takes care of errands and demands outside the home....
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...Alzheimer’s Disease: Not Just Loss of Memory Introduction Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative brain disease, is the most common cause of dementia. It currently afflicts about 4 million Americans and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Furthermore, Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of mental impairment in elderly people and accounts for a large percentage of admissions to assisted living homes, nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities. Psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations, have been reported in a large proportion of patients with this disease. In fact, it is the presence of these psychotic symptoms can lead to early institutionalization (Bassiony, et all, 2000). Learning about Alzheimer’s disease and realizing that it is much more that just a loss of memory can benefit the families of those with the disorder as well as society as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to look at the disorder, as well as to discuss the history, symptoms, diagnosis and hopes of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. History Around the turn of the century, two kinds of dementia were defined by Emil Kraepin: senile and presenile. The presenile form was described more in detail by Alois Alzheimer as a progressive deterioration of intellect, memory and orientation. As a neuropathologist, Alzheimer studied the case a 51 year-old woman. When she died, Alzheimer performed an autopsy and found that she had “cerebral atrophy”...
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