Nursing Case Study Alzheimer's Disease

Last year my maternal Aunt Kate passed away. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) about eight years earlier. My maternal grandmother also had been diagnosed with AD before her death. Later this month I will accompany my 77-year-old mother to her neurologist appointment. While she has not been diagnosed with AD, she has been prescribed Donepezil (Aricept), one of the newer drugs that are thought to reduce the decline in memory in patients that have or might be developing dementia. Opportunities to learn more about AD and the effects on the brain are welcome. The Alzheimer’s Association website, ALZ.org, is filled with a wealth of this information. Especially interesting was Inside the Brain: An Interactive Tour. I

Patients who suffer from AD also have their memory, ability to learn and to carry out activities affected. Since, AD is not just dementia related there is also another aspect to the disease that causes “progressive neurodegeneration” (Chen). The symptoms of AD are usually slow, but they get worse over time and start to affect your daily life. The majority of people affected by AD are aged 65 and older. If a family member has AD then future generations from that family member are more likely to have AD. This is a very important disease to try to find a cure because “by 2050 as many as 115 million people worldwide will have developed dementia“ (Chen). As of right now “AD affects more than 5 million people in the U.S. alone” (Chen). This creates a huge burden on the family because it leaves their loved ones unable to function alone or to be able to do anything alone. This puts the burden on the family because then they need to find the patient a home to live in to be taken care of or they have to bring the patient in to their home and take care of the patient 24/7. People suffering from AD need to be attended to at all times of the day and constantly reminded why and what they’re doing. This affects a family because then they’re not able to do their daily routines or continue to live their normal lives. The reason is because all of their energy needs to be focused on the family member suffering form the

Lifestyle changes to help prevent AD, according to The Alzheimer’s Prevention Foundation International include ‘four pillars of building a better memory”; diet and vitamins, stress management, exercise and pharmaceutical drugs. Diet and vitamins: the brain requires nutrition, blood flow and energy that comes from a diet that is moderate in calories, high in good fats and clean proteins. Stress management: reducing depression and improving your ability to deal with stressful situations. Exercise: mental and physical exercise is essential for brain health. Effective workouts include brisk walking, swimming, and Tai chi mental exercise such as visiting museums, crossword puzzles, reading, taking educational classes, and socializing with friend’s arte all excellent ways to keep your brain in shape. Pharmaceutical drugs: medications such as Aricept, Exelon, Reminyl, and Namenda, taken with the supervision of a physician, can play an important role in delaying the progression of mild memory loss due to Alzheimer’s disease. Natural hormone replacement

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive and fatal form of dementia, frequently seen in the elderly altering their cognition, thought process and behavior. AD is reported in about half of patients that have a dementia diagnosis; one study states that about 10.3% of the population over 65 years is affected by dementia with an increase to almost 50% over the age of 8 (Beattie, 2002). Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of the aging process in humans, but rather found in a group of diseases that affect the brain leading to a decline in mental and physical control. AD when diagnosed has a very slow and gradual course, initially affecting the individual’s short term memory (Beattie, 2002). Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death, affecting more than five million people in the United States and is also one of the most common forms of dementia. Dementia can be defined as a disorder of progressive cognitive impairment severe enough to affect daily functions of an individual’s life (Fillit, et al., 2002).

With the growing number of people becoming diagnosed, and experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, we must begin to take precautions and somehow attempt to gain knowledge of how the disease can be better treated, and ultimately prevented.

Most of the seven survived families with AD member were happy with SADA services, and they confirm that their communication with this organization is satisfactory. They added that they communicate with SADA through different ways such as social media, email or phone. This make it easy for them to get faster help whenever they need it. The benefits of SADA to these families are varies as they reported, where they share their experience with AD through this association, and they discuss their different ways of how to deal with their patient depending of disease stages. Moreover, they also said that they know about update research regarding AD and its treatment, what happened in each stage, and how this disease develop and become sever through

Alzheimer is a disease that has and continues to affect the elderly cognitively and as a result decline in their daily functioning. This slow moving death causes the elderly to go through a transition that sometimes can lead to unintentional self injuries. Not only has this disease affected the the individual, but has extended to their family members who has to learn new methods of assisting their loved ones as well as how to cope as a caretaker. On a personal level, I have friends whom grandparents suffer from AD and I’ve noticed that it changes the dynamic of the family and the individual learning new ways to function. It was interesting to learn that in the 80’s, AD was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, but this gave

It is a complex disease people often times do not know how to care for. Although a decline in memory and bouts of more forgetfulness are more common as one ages, spotting the difference between normal age-related symptoms and Alzheimer’s is important for families so that they can get their loved one the best care available. Even with proper care though, caregivers can misunderstand the symptoms of those afflicted, leading to an improper treatment of the patient. There are an estimated between 2.4 and 3.1. million AD caregivers in the United States, a majority of which are family members, who may not know proper care techniques or may be of older age themselves, as they could be caring for a spouse (Schulz and O’Brien1, 185-94). In fact, in a study of caregivers of those to patients with a memory ailment including Alzheimer’s or Dementia found that spouses have consistently been found to be more depressed than other relatives caring for a family member with a cognitive impairment (Schulz and O’Brien2, 771-91). To help in awareness, there are many new classes being offered in schools that can better prepare caregivers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s (DHHS) National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease dedicated a major goal to “Enhance Care Quality and Efficiency,” with major strategies including building a workforce with the skills to provide high quality care, explore

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a form of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. AD typically involves the development of a progressive neuropsychiatric disorder that is characterized by gradual memory impairment, loss of acquired skills and emotional disturbances (Lee, Y. J., Han, S. B., Nam, S. Y., Oh, K. W., & Hong, J. T.). Every 67 seconds an individual in the United States develops AD. AD is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. There are 5.3 million Americans diagnosed with AD (Latest Alzheimer's Facts and Figures). AD is one of the few degenerative diseases that cannot be prevented, stopped, or cured (Latest Alzheimer's Facts and Figures). Post-mortem examination of the brain of AD patients usually

B. There are many different treatments for Alzheimer’s. Some say that you don’t have to take a prescribed drug to help with Alzheimer. You can opt out with physical therapy, but you should watch how your family member reacts to treatment to see exactly what you need to make them comfortable as possible.

used today may help people function better for a few weeks or months, or years, these

Overall the best option for the patient is a nursing home . Family members can hire full time nurses to take care of their ill loved one in their own home. Even though it sounds like a better option than a nursing home it can be more expensive than a nursing home . According to Planning for Care Cost “$20 per hour for a home health aide ,$68 per day for adult day services’ (Care Cost 1 ). These are some of the cost for having a nurse take care of an alzheimer patient , it doesn’t cover the medicine and other expenses they might need

After Alzheimer's is diagnosed in a parent, or other elderly family member, the caregiver has the task of deciding what the best form of care for the patient is. In order to do this they have to fully understand what the disease is, and

Declining health and depression are two of the largest reasons families look into assisted living homes for aging loved ones. Making sure that the healthcare needs of the elderly are met becomes a priority for every family as the roles begin to reverse from the parent being the primary caregiver of their children to the children being responsible for meeting the needs of aging parents. Diseases such Alzheimer’s and dementia are very difficult for not only the

When a person is diagnosed with AD many decisions need to be made to prepare a person for the inevitable changes that will happen in the next several years. Not all of these changes need to happen at once because that can be very overwhelming to an individual, but preparedness is always a good idea. In the first stages of the disease people can lead fairly normal lives. They may experience slight memory loss and have trouble carrying out simple tasks such as handling money and paying bills, remembering special events such as birthdays, appointments, or anniversaries, and they may also experience some mood and personality changes. In the beginning stages people will need to be supervised bit not as extensively as those who are in the middle stage.