Bessie Case Study Alzheimer's Disease

Certain qualities are consistently observed in the Alzheimer’s victim. These dysfunction’s, though, are not exclusive to Alzheimer’s disease. Consequently, declaring Alzheimer’s by these parameters is a matter of degree rather than an absolute. Characteristic dysfunction’s have been noted in Alzheimer’s victims, but the degree and severity of these varies from patient to patient. Thus, evaluation of the patient’s mental status must be made based on the sum, rather than a single characteristic. Memory is one of the first noticed deficiencies, beginning typically with the recent and short term memory, and progressing from there as the disease grows more severe. In addition, deterioration in language skills, attention span, praxis (performance of an action), and visuospatial skills are commonly seen. Also observed are changes in the actions and personality of the Alzheimer’s victim. These include changes in mood, motor activities, activities of daily living, socialization skills, psychotic disturbances, vegetative symptomology, and rise in anxiety levels. Again, the

Writing a research paper is very difficult. Picking a topic is even harder. The topic I have chose to write about is dementia. Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes cause by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, or personalities. This is a very personal topic for me. Researching this topic made me understand something that happen to me recently. My great-grandmother passed away May 21st, 2011. After ninety four years of a wonderful life she passed away. She was diagnosed with dementia two months before she died. You would never even think that she would have dementia. She never showed any signs of dementia besides the final days of her life. I feel like doing research on this topic

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

155). There are many types of tests and approaches to cognitive assessments depending on the age of the person and symptoms currently experienced (Cordell et al. 147). These assessments are combined to ensure that there is a clear reason for concern, however, in the film, simply memory testing is done. During sessions with a neurologist, it is important if an informant, someone who has witnessed the change in cognition, is present during the diagnostic process (Cordell et al. 147). After informing Alice of this, she, alongside her husband, is tested through the repetition of sentences and ability to memorize a name and address. Alice’s neurologist merely tests her memory, while excluding other important examinable areas. If the cognitive assessments cause further concerns, a full dementia evaluation is conducted (Cordell et al. 147).

However, their ways of accepting this disease are pretty different from each other. With Bessie, she stayed positive and welcomed it as she is refusing to have the medication helping her memories. She kept going out and having conversations with people around her. Besides, Fanny was upset for her disease since she could not be able to drive anymore, which in her words is being dependent on her family. The fact is that she could no longer remember the street signs and the way to drive. Joe’s behavior is more positive than Fanny’s. He could be able to use the computer to post his own entries about Alzheimer. He was easy to get lost when he is by himself. Yolanda was diagnosed 6 years ago, so her memory was damaged more. She talked to her reflection from the mirror as a friend she met; her imagination makes she believes that there were some snakes on her lap, and she does not even remember her son’s face though that he has been visiting her almost every weekend.

Agustin was a 76-year-old male, who lived in a comfortable home with his wife Juana in Hastings, NE. He was a healthy man, until his wife started noticing that something was different about him. Over time, Juana would start to notice that Agustin would forget simple things such as the date &time and would go to the store and forget to bring back the food she had requested. This concerned Juana, so, she convinced Agustin to go to the emergency room. Once at the emergency room, Dr. Matthew, began to ask Agustin some questions about his medical and family history. Turns out, Agustin’s family had a history of Alzheimer’s. Nonetheless, the doctors wanted to be sure about the diagnosis, so they decided to perform some mental and verbal tests on Agustin.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disease which slowly destroys thinking and memory skills. These changes are severe enough to interfere with day to day life. This irreversible disease is the most common cause of dementia amongst the elderly, with an appearance of first symptoms after age 60.

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.

According to Green (2007) “biopsychosocial and spiritual assessment alone will not provide a complete picture of competence” forcing the practitioner to consider appraisal as a part of the assessment. Fanny’s lower levels of functioning begins with appraisal as she perceived the demand of surrendering her driving privileges as a threat to her independence. In other words, she examined the severity of the situation deeming it as serious making her feel vulnerable as she mentioned if she could no longer drive, she will feel inadequate. Comparatively, Bessie was able to go with the flow although she understood there is no cure available for her condition, she remained positive. Next we must look at Fanny’s lower level of biological functioning from a perspective of her mental health status, unlike Bessie, she has Alzheimer’s disease with increased symptoms.

Alzheimer’s is a degenerate disease of the brain. There are an estimated four million Americans that live with Alzheimer’s, it is believed that the disease accounts anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of all cases of dementia (UCSF medical center). The vast amount of cases leads me to believe that we would not need to look very far to find either a friend or family member distant or close that has had a personal or familial experience with this disease.

Alzheimer 's disease is a condition that affects the cognitive status of many people around the world regardless of wealth, ethnicity, intelligence or any other factor. A specific case study that demonstrates the destructive nature of the disease can be seen in the case of Akram. Akram was an 80-year-old woman with a past medical history of hypertension, diverticulitis, transient ischemic attack (TIA), and diabetes. Her history did include a serious head injury at the age of 45 from an automobile accident, but she recovered well after some time in the hospital. As she aged, she could remember childhood friends and family from 20+ years ago quite well. What tripped her up were simple daily processes of life. She might put food in the oven to cook, but fail to turn it on after doing all the prep work. Also, she began to frequently misplace her keys and have trouble remembering where she put household items. She had been a very intelligent person with a lot of energy and had previously been involved in a lot of volunteer projects she helped run. Upon talking to her husband, it was learned that she had been having similar difficulties over the past two years. Driving was a big issue as well; she felt she could recall how, but still had trouble operating her vehicle. She also frequently got lost on routine trips, like to the grocery store. Additionally, she would forget whether she had eaten and had several extra meals in a day unless a helper or a family member was keeping

“Still Alice” is about a well-respected psychologist named Alice Howland diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is described as a progressive, incurable disease that destroys memory and important mental functions. Alice displayed many signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, such as mental decline, difficulty thinking and understanding, disorientation, poor concentrating, agitation, forgetfulness, self-care deficits, personality changes, getting lost and wandering, and restlessness. Alice is smart and successful, but everything changes for the worse when she gets diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

The fact that women live longer than men on average is generally a cause for great comfort among women. As with many things in life, however, there may be a flip side to this coin of longevity. Alzheimer's disease is a terrible illness that strikes the elderly with shocking frequency and it is a sad truth for women that two-thirds of those with this debilitating disease are women. Scientists have long thought that this this higher percentage among women was simply due to the fact that women do live longer and this is a disease of the elderly. This has long been the assumption but science is about theories and testing those theories to see if they hold up. It is not about making assumptions and going on as if they are valid.

Signs of memory loss can be very devastating to anyone’s family. In early November of 1906, there was a new discovery of an illness affecting the brain. German physician Alois Alzheimer described a touching case of Auguste D. The patient was suspected to have profound memory loss, some suspicion about her family, and some other intensifying physiological changes.

Kids, as you know, I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease a couple of months ago. I already have some trouble remembering my precious recipes that make all of you so happy on every little and big family celebration. Sometimes I even forget where my keys are or where I’m heading. Daily events like taking the subway and trying to sing my all-time favorite songs are certainly an odyssey. But that’s ok. Those are trifles.