Relate to another journal reading
Relate to another journal reading
- Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior (What is alzheimer’s, n.d). Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that does not have a cure and the symptoms of the disease eventually grow severe enough to interfere with daily tasks (What is alzheimer’s, n.d). There are various cognitive assessment tools that can help us assess the patient and take the proper action. The Alzheimer’s association offers two different assessment tools. One is the general practitioner assessment of cognition tool which is used in primary care (What is Alzheimer’s, n.d). Another assessment is the mini-cog tool which consists of a recall test for memory and a scored clock-drawing test (What is alzheimer’s, n.d). Additionally, the U.S. FDA has approved of several digital cognitive testing tools that will help us assess the patient’s level of memory and decision (What is alzheimer’s, n.d). I have noticed that at the clinical where I do my hours at the mini-cog is an assessment tool that is used frequently to help assess our geriatric patients and it is something I could use to assess this patient. Additionally, I would ask the patients questions regarding orientation, for example asking who the president is and asking the month and year we are in. I would also assess the patient’s mobility and assess the risk of falls and if the patient may need any DME.
- My top three differential for the patient are:
1) Dementia
2) Alzheimer’s and
3) Age-related debility
With both dementia and Alzheimer’s disease we see a decline in mental ability where they can affect one’s daily life and ability to complete ADLs on their own. When it comes to age- related debility we see a physiological decline with mental status, nutrition, weakness, and increased fatigue in the older population (Age-related debility, 2023). There are many different diagnostics that are used to help us a diagnose a patient aside from neurological exams and functional assessments. Brain imaging including an MRI, CT or PET scan can be diagnosed to help us diagnose and rule out other diagnostics (What is alzheimer’s ,n.d). Testing cerebrospinal fluid can also help make an accurate diagnosis (What is alzheimer’s, n.d). There are different approaches when it comes to treating Alzheimer’s or dementia. There are treatments for behavior issues, sleep changes, and medications for memory/cognition related behaviors (What is alzheimer’s, n.d). A medication that can be given to the patient is memantine. Memantine is a glutamate regulator that is prescribed to help with memory, attention, reason, language, and the ability to perform simple tasks (What is alzheimer’s, n.d). The initial dose for Memantine is a 5 mg tablet once a day and it is increased by 5 mg every week until the dose is 20 mg (NHS, 2022).
Resources
Age-related debility. Brundage Group. (2023, March 8). https://brundagegroup.com/tips/age-
related-debility/
NHS. (2022, August). How and when to take Memantine . NHS choices.
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/memantine/how-and-whe…
What is alzheimer’s? Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. (n.d.). https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-
dementia/what-is-alzheimers
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