Short Story: Early Onset Dementia

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a form of degenerative, fatal dementia, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline. While AD is the most common form of dementia, its prevalence has only recently been recognized. When Alois Alzheimer first described the sequence of changes in 1907, physicians believed the disease to be an extremely rare, mid-life condition. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the same types of changes were shown to occur in both late- and early-onset forms (Cavanaugh et.al. 2008). As such, almost all knowledge of AD has been learned within the past several decades, with new discoveries being reported almost daily. It is now estimated that Alzheimer’s accounts for as many as 60% of all dementias and affects more than 500,000

2.2 Explain the importance of recording possible signs or symptoms of dementia in an individual in line with agreed ways of working

Dementia is a type of disorder that affects the central nervous system. It’s not a disease itself but a group of symptoms that characterize disease and conditions. It’s commonly defined as a decline in intellectual functioning that is severe enough to interfere with the ability to perform routine activities. It causes significant loss of intellectual abilities, such as memory capacity, severe enough to interfere with social or occupational functioning. Dementia‘s a general term that also includes specific disorders like vascular dementia as well as others.

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.

Dementia is a syndrome, which is usually of a chronic or progressive nature, which causes deterioration in cognitive function. It goes beyond what is expected from normal aging. It causes changes in what you remember, like appointments, or phone numbers. It may cause you to get lost in a familiar setting like driving to the grocery store. You may not be able to balance your checkbook or add up your points in a card game. Communication becomes difficult; as you cannot find the words you want to say. Your personality may change, you may become paranoid, be crabby or short tempered, and you may say or do inappropriate things or laugh when nothing is funny. Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people

When his hand left her for a few fleeting moments, it took all she had not to whine and beg for more attention. With heat pooling between her legs, a quivering in her thighs, and dampnesss most _certainly_ beginning to form, every touch felt like enough to make her go _crazy_. She was weaker than she wished to let on, and it took every ounce of self control to stop herself from losing what little composure she had left - She wanted him, _only_ him, and he was all her mind allowed her to think about. Dementia's sharp fangs were close to sinking into his flesh again, pressure barely clamping down -

Being first diagnosed with this disease the symptoms are often subtle and can go unnoticed. Some examples of this can be the person diagnosed with dementia can forget where the bathroom in their house is or that they left the keys in their car. Then the disease will progress to more noticeable effects such as not remembering the rules of the road and forgetting where you are going while driving. For Chris, in The Truth about Dementia, this is exactly what had happened to him. Chris for all of his life was into motorcycles and owned his own auto body shop. When he gave his license up after getting confused while driving, his symptoms seemed to get worse at what seemed like a fast pace. For dementia patients this is a normal process in their disease. Chris also stated that he while he still had some of his cognition left, he wanted to keep telling his family that he loved them because once his dementia progressed he knew he wasn’t going to be the same and problem not be able to tell

“The concept of dementia has been around since early civilizations. Ancient philosophers viewed mental decay as a normal part of ageing. The prevalence and study of dementia increased as the lifespan of humans extended. In the late 1800s, with advancements in medicine and the ability to look inside the brain, the medical community realized that diseases could cause this deterioration. The most common dementia was named, in 1910, after Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist.

People with dementia don’t know what they want or can’t communicate what they want Dementia is a natural part of aging Once you have dementia there is nothing you can do Only the elderly get dementia People with dementia can’t understand what’s going on I should correct what a dementia sufferer says when they are wrong There is nothing I can do to lower my risk of dementia

The article “The Clinical Course of Advance Dementia” by Susan L. Mitchell, Joan M. Teno, Dan K. Kiely, Michele L. Shaffer, Richard N. Jones, Holly G. Prigerson, Ladislav Volicer, Jane L. Givens, and Mary Beth Hamel are researching the end-stage dementia with older population. The motivations of doing this research are the increasing number of Americans dying with dementia and to gathering information about symptoms and diseases related with advance dementia. The researchers’ goal is to improve the care provided to patient with dementia. The purpose of research is to give expectation to health care providers and patient of what they will face at advance stage of disease.

Having Alzheimer’s would cause your parents to forget everything over time, including you, their only child. Because you were so young, Alden and I decided to tell you that they had just been killed. We figured it would be better for you to believe that they were dead than to tell you that they do not even remember who you are. But, throughout these past few months, we have noticed that you haven’t forgotten about them, and no matter how hard we have tried to prevent you, you have always tried to find a way to see your parents again.”

The data was collected from the CASCADE (the Choices, Attitudes, and Strategies for Care of Advanced Dementia at the End-of-Life) database and National Institutes of Health to locate dementia patients this was the fastest way to reach and contact a cohort of patients. The health history of the cohort was gathered from patients’ medical charts and from health care providers in nursing homes to save time from reassessing the patients. The regular physical examination of the patients was scheduled every 3 months for up to 18 months to evaluate health status, clinical complications, distressing symptoms, and burdensome interventions. These visits helped the researchers to record the progression of the disease. Also, a cognitive examination with the Test for Severe Impairment had been done for each patient.

Dementia is a broad term for a brain disease that is acquired. It develops when nerve cells in the brain deteriorate and do not regrow. The disease affects an individual’s memory, behavior, and their ability to comprehend and clearly think. Although the rate of deterioration varies, dementia causes a decline in an individual’s vocational and social functions. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease (ASHA, 2015).

Dementia is a progressive condition that brings out negative impacts on your elderly loved ones’ lives. However, UC-Cares Home Health Services LLC, your principal provider of home health services in Great Plains Way, Bolingbrook, IL, sees prevalent concerns among family members when they talk with their elders with Dementia. Here are some of the most common communication strategies that most family members overdo when talking with them:

This assignment critically discusses about dementia, a widespread disability among older adults today. It provides an introduction to dementia and analyses its prevalence in society. The various forms of dementias are elaborated with description about dysfunctions and symptoms. Nursing Assessment and Interventions are provided in the further sections which discusses about actions nurses should take on while evaluating patients and treating them. Finally, communication, an important Activity of Daily Living (ADL) is explored and patient/carer advice is presented so as to maintain good health conditions in the patient.