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unit 17 supporting individuals with dementia
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- PEARSON (PEARSON)
health and social care level 3 unit 17 assignment 1.
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Unit 17: Caring for individuals with dementia.1
Unit 17: Caring for Individuals with Dementia.
The word 'dementia' describes a set of symptoms that over time can affect memory,
problem-solving, language and behaviour. However there is a range of symptoms that
individuals may display. Dementia is generally considered to progress in three stages-
early, middle and late stage. Individuals will experience dementia in their own unique
way.
Types, causes and symptoms of dementia.
Dementia is a set of behaviours or ‘symptoms’ which suggest difficulties with cognitive
function. The most common symptoms include: memory loss, confusion, mood and
personality changes, problems with planning and doing tasks in the right order.
Dementia is diagnosed when the symptoms cause such problems with the everyday
tasks of daily life that the person affected cannot carry on living independently, without
care, any longer.Dementia is an ‘organic’ disorder, meaning there is an associated
physical deterioration of the brain tissue, which can be seen via a brain scan or, after
death, at autopsy. Dementia is progressive – the damage and symptoms get worse over
time. It is therefore not a normal result of ageing, but rather is the result of a disease.
Alzheimer’s Disease.
The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease. It is caused by a buildup
of protein in the brain, this means that the nerve cells cannot pass on signals effectively.
This condition causes an interruption in the brain activity and the nerve tissue eventually
dies.
Alzheimer’s disease appears to be the slowest form of dementia to develop. However
many factors can affect the speed of progression. An individual with early onset
Alzhiemer’s may experience the most rapid deterioration. Genetic make-up may be a
contributory factor.
Alzhimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease, the symptoms may initially
be very mild and worsen as time goes by. The symptoms may start to affect daily life
activities.
One of the most common symptoms of the disease is memory loss and usually short
term memory. Individuals with this may remember significant events in their childhood
but cannot remember what they did the previous day.
Another symptom could be getting lost in an environment they are familiar with. This
can be distressing as being lost in an area you should know can be scary.
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,Unit 17: Caring for individuals with dementia.
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Individuals with Alzheimer's disease may be prone to mood swings and can become
angry with people who are close to them. They may forget things frequently and may
need things repeated for them to understand, this is challenging for the people providing
care for the individuals.
As the disease progresses, the symptoms will become worse, this may mean
restlessness, agitation, sleeplessness and episodes of aggression. The individuals may
need assistance with eating and drinking as they may have trouble with swallowing and
personal care.
Vascular dementia.
Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia. Vascular dementia is
caused by a reduction in the supply of the blood to the brain. To maintain proper
function, the brain needs a constant supply of blood. The blood travels in blood vessels
as part of the cardiovascular system. If blood vessels leak blood or become blocked this
can damage the brain cells and eventually they will die.
Vascular dementia can cause the brain cells to die, causing problems with cognition.
Cognition includes judgement, attention, problem-solving and memory. Vascular
dementia can impact the activities of daily living such as personal care, hygiene or
sleeping. There are different types of vascular dementia and these progress differently.
This type of dementia may be stroke or post-stroke related, a stroke is caused by a clot
forming in the heart and travelling to the brain, or forming in the brain itself and can
block the blood supply to the brain tissue. Different arteries branch off the carotid
arteries and blockages in the various branching arteries can have different effects on
individuals, depending on where the blockage occurs.
The symptoms of vascular dementia vary greatly, depending on what has caused the
disease. As with Alzheimer's disease, memory loss and general forgetfulness is
common. There will often be problems with decision making, being or staying organised
and following sequenced instructions. Processing information becomes slower than
previously, and concentration will become poor with sudden, brief periods of confusion.
The individuals may also have problems in perceiving objects in three dimensions. This
could mean that not only will your service user have difficulty picking objects up,
because they are struggling to judge the depth and breadth of objects, but they may
also have problems judging the speed of traffic, making driving or crossing the road
problematic and more dangerous than usual.
The individuals with vascular dementia can have mood swings and they may become
irritable or tearful or happier than usual for no reason.
This may be because the individual is aware of the changes to their mental state and
the impact that this degenerative disorder Is having on their life, and on the lives of
those around them.
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, Unit 17: Caring for individuals with dementia.
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Depending on what has caused the vascular dementia, the symptoms can vary. If the
service user has had a stroke then they may also need support with the physical
effects of a stroke, such as weakened limbs or difficulty speaking or swallowing. The
symptoms may stabilise for a while, but then go through periods of rapid decline,
before stabilising for a while.
Dementia with lewy bodies (DLB)
Dementia with Lewy bodies is often misdiagnosed as the symptoms are similar to
Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. This type of dementia is caused by
abnormal protein deposits in the nerve cells.
The location in the brain of the Lewy bodies will affect the symptoms that the individual
experiences with this condition. If the Lewy bodies are in the outer layers of the brain,
then cognitive function will be impaired, but if the Lewy bodies are in the base of the
brain this will affect fine and gross motor skills.
It is not uncommon for someone with DLB to have problems maintaining attention and
staying alert. Attention span can fluctuate widely over the course of the day or even
over the course of an hour.
A symptom of this type of dementia could be hallucinations, atypical sleeping patterns
and could be prone to falls.
In later stages of the disease, the individuals may find it difficult to swallow and this
could increase the risk of choking and developing chest infections.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
One of the less common causes of dementia is known as Pick’s disease or frontal lobe
dementia. Frontotemporal refers to the lobes of the brain affected by the disease.
Located just behind the forehead, the right frontal lobe is responsible for behaviour and
emotions and the left is responsible for language.
In this type of dementia, the nerve connections are lost, as are some of the chemical
messengers and the pathways for transmitting impulses change. Eventually, the brain
tissue in the frontal lobes shrink.
Frontotemporal dementia is caused by a buildup of proteins in the lobes of the brain.
One cause is genetic, where the genetic coding that forms the genetic identity of an
individual has a malformation that results in the buildup of proteins. Current research
suggests that an early onset FTD may have a genetic link. Apolipoprotein E (APOE)
appears to increase the risk with variant e4 appearing to be the greatest risk.
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