Alzheimer's Disease: A Case Study

Throughout this line of study, Alzheimer’s disease is a specific form of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Association, dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability that is severe enough to hinder daily life. Memory loss is a symptom of dementia and the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s. One of the most common and severe symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty remembering newly learned information. The changes of Alzheimer’s normally begin in the part of the brain that affects learning (Overview Alzheimer's Association). Some other symptoms of Alzheimer’s include gradual memory loss, the decline in capability to carry out everyday tasks and the loss of their language skills. According to Bialystok the rate of

In times past many people thought that memory loss was a normal occurrence for elderly people. This thinking was major reason for why Alzheimer’s disease was not caught until very later in the stages. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. After heart disease, cancer, and strokes, Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of death in adults in the Western world. “It is estimated that 4.5 million Americans over the age of 65 are affected with this condition. After the age of 65, the incidence of the disease doubles every five years and, by age 85, it will affect nearly half of the population” (Robinson).

Cerebrovascular disease, also known as vascular dementia, is the second to most common form of dementia. It is characterized by blood vessels changing over time in the cerebrum (brain). The most common reason for vascular dementia is due to aging of the body; but it is also tied to cholesterol and the state of the walls of the blood vessels. Too much cholesterol and overall poor health of blood vessels can cause a thickness in the lining of the vessel walls, therefore cutting off some of the blood flow to the brain.

During the onset of the disease, symptoms are usually non-existant, and progress slowly over the course of many years, often going unnoticed until they become more severe. Alzheimer's is somewhat difficult to diagnose, but there are some common symptoms to all patients. Memory loss occurs in all patients. The person may have trouble remembering small things such as phone numbers, or where he/she put the keys. Eventually, short term memory is lost, and only memories in the far past are able to be recalled. People with Alzheimer's can become disoriented and can get lost easily when out on their own. Mood changes also occur, and the person can be easily irritated or agitated by seemingly insignificant things. Cognitive deterioration also occurs, with the person losing the ability to understand spoken language or recall the meanings of different words (Grayson, "Recognizing Alzheimer's" 1). Despite these common symptoms, making a diagnosis is difficult since Alzheimer's patientscan display the same symptoms as a head injury or depression.

Early diagnosis of dementia can have a huge impact on the individual and their family and friends.

c) Age-related cognitive impairment (or mild cognitive impairment MCI) – is when an elderly person’s memory starts to wane and they have problems recalling their short term memories, they have difficulty learning new things, their thinking process starts to become reduced and have difficulty concentrating. It is thought that MCI can develop due to alcohol abuse and cognitive decline (poor diet, chronic inflammation, vascular disease and

Alzheimer 's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain from which there is no recovery. There are three brain abnormalities that are the hallmarks of the Alzheimer’s disease is initially caused by plaques buildup in the brain’s neurons as illustrated in figure 1. The support structure that allows the flow of the nutrients through the neurons gets damaged and ultimately there is loss of connection among the neurons and they die off (National Institute of Health, 2015). This causes the brain tissue to shrinks, which is called atrophies. All this ultimately lead the victim of this disease to face difficulties in governing emotions, recognize errors and patterns, coordinate movement, and remember. Ultimately, a person with AD loses all memory and mental functioning.

Dementia can be defined as a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life (alz.org). More than often, individuals affected by dementia are over the age of 65. In the United States, there are more than three million cases of dementia each year. According to World Health Organization, the number of people living with dementia is currently estimated at 47.5 million worldwide and is expected to increase to 75.6 million by 2030 (World Health Organization 2015). Dementia is caused by physical modifications in the brain and is known for loss of memory and mental abilities. It’s a progressive disease which means it gets worse over time. If diagnosed early on, the quality of life for people with dementia as well as their family members can be significantly improved. There are many different types of dementias although some are far more reciprocal than others. One of the most common types of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Other few types of dementias are “Vascular dementia, Mixed dementia, Parkinson 's disease and Frontotemporal dementia (Krishnan, D. S)”. All of the various forms of dementia tend to have similar symptoms which consequently makes it hard to determine the type of dementia a patient may be suffering from.

Doctors administer a variety of strategies to diagnose dementia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). It is extremely important that all treatable conditions first be ruled out, such as depression and Vitamin B12 deficiency, which can cause the same type of symptoms as dementia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). Timely and accurate diagnosis of dementia is extremely important for both the patient and their families because it allows early treatment of symptoms (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke). A variety of tests are used to aid in the diagnosis process, such as neurological evaluations, in which doctors look specifically at patients’ balance, sensory responses, reflexes, and various other functions (National

When diagnosing an individual with dementia, doctors perform a series of tests that evaluate their cognition ability as well as taking a MRI scan of the brain. Doctors also follow DSM-5, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, guidelines. According to this manual dementia is considered a major or

As people get old a few of them will experience changes in cognition with age related capacity rather than intellectual capacity. There are some people who get both disparities of mentally and physically impaired that will led into depression due to aging process of their body. Even though, the forgetfulness is a common among older adults, we as healthcare providers must evaluate altered mental status of the patients. “The evaluation and management of altered mental status are broad and require careful history and physical examination to eliminate life-threatening situations”(Patti & Dulebohn, 2017). Therefore, it is very important to recognize the importance of difference between normal age-related symptoms and developing new health problems that can arise in this specific population. As elders get older their memory lapses it frustrating to them leading them to be more worried about changes in their memory. Nurses have a unique capability to promote a cognitive health and determine the possibilities of potential cases of the impairment in elders. The movie “On Golden Pond” Mr. Norman was a perfect example and showed that his symptoms were interfering with his everyday live when he almost burns down the house with fire, calling Bill by his daughter’s name Chelsea and getting lost in on the lake. Even though, Mr. Norman had heart and dementia problems his wife never discouraged him to do what he liked such as

Dementia symptoms most commonly observed by people would be memory loss and an inability to complete simple mental activities such as adding or subtracting or remembering where things were placed, or a difference in a person’s normal behavior. There are times that a person without dementia will experience similar symptoms but, the difference is if these symptoms persist and do not go away after a period of time. Dementia isn’t something that happens quickly it is an illness that gets progressively worse as time passes. When a person that is effected with these symptoms

In many cases patients with dementia wait a long period of time to go to the doctor after they start experiencing symptoms because they think it is a natural part of aging. The patients with dementia notice symptoms far before their care givers do but do not explain them to anyone. The fact that the patients wait so long to see a doctor about their symptoms and the lack of knowledge of the disease by the patient and care givers is a major hindrance to getting an accurate diagnosis and care. The care givers of the dementia patients play a major role in the diagnosis process as results showed they either promote or hinder the start of the diagnosis process. Early detection is essential to helping the patients live the best lives possible with dementia. Although treatment does not cure dementia it is usually much more effective in slowing in the progression when started in the early stages and an early diagnosis

Alzheimer's disease (AD, the most common form of dementia) accounts for 60% prevalence in LDCs (Kalaria et. al., 2008). A survey led by experts commissioned by Alzheimer's Disease International estimated that 24.3 million people suffered from dementia in 2005, and 4.6 million new cases were reported annually (Kalaria et. al., 2008). Projections by Alzheimer's Disease International and WHO propose that by 2050, 115 million people will be living with AD/ dementia globally, of which a growing proportion will reside in LDCs (approximately 55 million by 2020 according to WHO) (Kaneda, 2006). There is a common awareness about its final stages which comprise of: loss of reasoning, memory, speech, along with other cognitive functions. In most LDCs,

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and a nonreversible physical and mental condition and typically occurs within the aging population, death is imminent. (Pointer, Williams, Isaacs, Knickman, & Barr, 2007) The life expectancy for those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease is 20.4 at the rate per 100,000 people (p. 17).