Alzheimer's: A Case Study

The words moved into her mind, like leaves on an autumn breeze. She awoke to find the phone between her cheek and the pillow, the insistent buzzing the only sound from the black receiver. Had there been a voice on the line? Or had she only dreamed it? Or was she even hallucinating? She had had dreams before, but the kind that would wake her like an alarm bell. Heart pounding, pulse racing, it would take her several moments to get her to know where she was and that she had been dreaming.

The reporting party (RP) stated she received a call from resident John Tedford who resides in the assisted living portion of the facility. The RP stated the resident does not have dementia and maintains his cognitive abilities. The RP stated the resident disclosed that money was stolen from his checking account. The RP stated the bank was contacted regarding the account and disclosed that the account was closed on 7/17/15. The bank informed the RP there were two checks issued that were not cashed. According to the RP the resident's checking account contained $10,500 and the savings account contained $169,000 at the time the accounts were closed. The RP stated the bank reissued the checks to the resident and mailed them to his wife's resident.

This paper reviews the use of cognitive rehabilitation treatment of early stage of dementia Alzheimer’s type. The case study examines a 72 year old male patient diagnosed with early stage dementia of Alzheimer’s Type. This study used visual imagery, as well as cues and expanding rehearsal during the cognitive rehabilitation. The evaluation of cognitive rehabilitation treatment included the psychological, physiological, neurological assessments and self-reports. Results

CHICAGO, Ill.—The Alzheimer’s Association® Greater Illinois Chapter is currently seeking volunteers to participate in the 12th annual Bankers Life and Casualty Company’s Forget Me Not Days May 16th and 17th.

Depression can also produce symptoms common to alzheimer’s disease such as: forgetfulness, difficulty making decisions, withdrawal, poor judgment and irritable mood. A person with Alzheimer’s disease with and identified and treated depression can show a rapid and marked improvement in their level of functioning. It is a double burden for the person with Alzheimer’s disease and untreated depression.

In 1984 the criteria for diagnosing Alzheimer’s was developed by the Alzheimer’s Association. These three levels of diagnostic certainty were: Possible, Probable, and Definitive. In the Possible AD level, symptoms were not typical, but other disorders were ruled out. For example, it could be diagnosed if the patient had another illness, as well as with symptoms of dementia. The next level is Probable AD. In this level of criteria, the diagnostic evaluation excludes other causes of diagnostic decline. In addition to this, the historical pattern of functional and behavioral disturbances was noted. With these techniques, doctors were able to diagnose with an 85-95% accuracy. The last level was called Definitive AD. Within in this level, an autopsy was performed and the examined brain tissue revealed

There are good days and there are bad days and for people living with Alzheimer's Disease. The variation of days are based on how much they can remember. My grandmother was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago and is beginning to show early signs of Alzheimer's Disease. Medicine is supposed to heal or fix any abnormality within the body, but there isn't much to stop the rapid killing of brain cells. I cannot help but wonder how many prayers and wishes will it take for my grandma to remember. Right now, the galaxies are low on supplies of stars, and my prayers seem like a repetitive monologue. The worst feeling in the world is waiting for someone who you're not sure exists anymore. How can you know who you are when any trail of your being is erased? So I force feed myself these words, "Hi grandma, how you have been?" When the waves of selfishness lead me to these, "Hi grandma, do you know who I am?"

— Elderly people suffering from Dementia and Alzheimer meet with a progressive cognitive decline making them experience hardship in performing their everyday conventional activities especially in their outdoor navigation as they tend to forget landmarks even in familiar environments due to gradual decline in their memory and thinking abilities. Hence, disorientation and wandering become common issue. Providing assistive guidance to the elderly people in their outdoor mobility has become a challenging task for caretakers and family members as most of the elders prefer to live independently. Thus, there arises a need for efficient solutions that can monitor the elderly people movements and notify the caretakers in the event of disorientation or wandering being detected.

In the world, there are new cases of dementia for somewhere between 10 and 15 people per 1000. Five to eight per 1000 are cases of Alzheimer’s. Dementia is a term that simply defines a mentally deteriorated condition. Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disease and is the most common cause of dementia in older people. Alzheimer’s is a disease of the brain and it has little impact on the body beyond what happens as an indirect result of behavior associated with the disease. Because it is often secondary results of Alzheimer’s Disease that cause death, such as pneumonia and

(Intellectual Development Disorder) Alzheimer’s Disease (G30.9) Mr. Jewell is currently using Risperdal 2mg HS for his mental health needs. He has a good sense of humor with a friendly approachable disposition and gets along well with other people. Mr. Jewell struggles with limitations due to his Dementia. He is not oriented to place or time and his short memory is due Alzheimer’s disease. Consumer continues to meet with his psychiatrist Dr. Capiro once weekly for one-on-one session to evaluate and determine if he is okay with hi current medication. Consumer was at his baseline this month, he was complaint with taking his medication and going for appointment.

Commonly found in the 65 and older population, dementia effects an individual’s mental ability, personality and their behavior. According to Bob DeMarco (2012), founder of the Alzheimer’s Reading Room, dementia is defined as, “...the gradual deterioration of mental functioning, such as thinking, concentration, memory, and judgment, which affects a person’s ability to perform normal daily activities” (para. 1). Although there is currently no cure for dementia, doctors treat patients with a cocktail of drugs in hopes of slowing the progression of the disease.

Of the brain occurs a dangerous, gradual, and deteriorative ailment, dementia, particularly named Alzheimer s disease. This disease develops as an irregular malfunction which ultimately leads to death. Alzheimer’s disease was found by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician. A woman of middle age passed away years after she was diagnosed with psychological decayment and confusion that was accompanied with loss of memory. Dr. Alzheimer realized there was an unusual arrangement in the nerve cells while observing her cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the section of the brain that is accountable for reasoning and memory. The formation of the cells were clustered together “like a rope tied in knots”. Neurofibrillary tangles were the name he gave this assortment of nerve fibers. Additionally, Alzheimer discovered a build-up of “cellular debris” around the damaged nerves. He called the build-up senile plaques. An article was broadcasted in a medical journal in 1905. In it was Dr. Alzheimer’s conjecture of the tangles and plaques were what caused the woman’s unusual loss of memory.

When an individual has a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one can assume that individual may also have a diagnosis with a depressive disorder. Depression in many cases can be the first sign of a neurodegenerative disorder (Yun, 2015, as cited by Green, Cupples, Kurz, Chui, Edeki…Farrer, 2003). Many individuals, who have a neurological disorder, may also develop depressive disorders early on before the appearance of cognitive impairments. Prior research has supported the idea that individuals who are depressed maybe twice as likely to develop AD when compared against non-depressed individuals (Schiavone, 2017, as cited by Jorm, 2001).

A review of her medical records indicates that on 12/16/16 and 12/20/16 she has urine ordered for UA, C & S due to increased incontinence. On 1/3/17 she was ordered a psych consult due to mood changes. She is taking buspirone hcl 15 mg for agitation. She does suffer from advanced dementia. The facility nurse reports that she continues to suffers from co-morbidities of hypothyroid-stable, HTN-stable and anemia which is chronic. She is known to the palliative care team as she was admitted to palliative care July of 2016 due to her advanced dementia and weight loss, at which time she was in assisted living. She has since transferred to SNF at the gardens due to her progressive decline.

The Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Center is holding a clinical trial to learn the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The REVEAL series is on it’s fifth trial, V, and are testing people with high risk of Alzheimer’s. REVEAL is examining cognitive function, mood and well-being, and preventive health behavior changes. REVEAL must examine these things to determine the risk of Alzheimer’s. Individuals will test for apolipoprotein E genotype. They will go through radioactive brain imaging in search of amyloid positivity, which can lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Half of the participants with high amyloid positivity will learn their risk and the other half will learn not. The impact of learning your risk can have a major affect