DEMENTIA
1. Symptoms
Characterized by multiple cognitive deficits that include memory impairment and
at least one of the following cognitive disturbances:
o Aphasia
o Apraxia
o Agnosia
o Disturbances in executive thinking
The deficits must be severe enough to cause impairment in occ...
Neurological Disorders
Acena, Jobelle C.
Union Christian College
,ACENA, JOBELLE C. 2
Neurological Disorders
DEMENTIA
1. Symptoms
Characterized by multiple cognitive deficits that include memory impairment and
at least one of the following cognitive disturbances:
o Aphasia
o Apraxia
o Agnosia
o Disturbances in executive thinking
The deficits must be severe enough to cause impairment in occupational or social
functioning and must represent a decline in the client’s previous level of
functioning.
Common symptoms include:
o Aphasia: the loss of language ability, speech is often impoverished
and the client may have difficulty “finding” the right words
o Apraxia: an impaired ability to carry out motor activities despite
intact sensory function
o Confabulation: filling in memory gaps with detailed fantasy believed
by the affected individual
o Sundown syndrome: characterized by increased disorientation and
confusion at night
o Perseveration phenomenon: includes repetitive behaviors, including
pacing and echoing other’s words.
o Memory loss
o Disorientation to time, place and person
o Decreased ability to concentrate or to learn new material
o Difficulty making decisions
o Poor judgment
2. Types of Dementia
Dementia of the Alzheimer’s type: most common form of dementia affecting
elderly clients categorized according to its stages and related symptoms:
Stage Behavior Affect Cognitive changes
Mild Difficulty completing tasks Anxious Recent memory losses
Decline in goal-directed Depressed Time disorientation
activity Frustrated Decreased ability to
Lack of attention to Suspicious concentrate
personal appearance and Fearful Difficulty making
ADL decisions
Withdrawal from unusual Poor judgment
social activities
Frequent searching for
, ACENA, JOBELLE C. 3
misplaced objects; may
accuse others of stealing
Moderate Socially inappropriate Labile mood Recent and remote
behavior Flat, apathetic memory losses
Self-care deficits Agitation (amnesia)
Wandering and pacing Paranoia Confabulation
Hoarding objects Disorientation to time,
Disturbance in sleep-wake place and person
cycle Some degree of
agnosia, apraxia and
aphasia
Severe Decreased ability to Flat, apathetic Progression of
ambulate or engage in Occasional cognitive changes,
other motor activities catastrophic with increased
Decreased swallowing reactions may severity of amnesia,
activity continue agnosia, apraxia, and
Complete self-care deficits aphasia
Vascular (multi-infarct) dementia: the second leading cause of dementia in
elderly clients; occurs when blood clots block small blood vessels in the brain and
destroy the brain tissue.
Other types of dementia associated with general medical conditions: Parkinson’s
disease, Pick’s disease, Huntington’s chorea, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and
HIV.
o Pick's disease is a degenerative brain disease that particularly affects the
frontal and temporal lobes and results in a clinical picture similar to that of
Alzheimer's disease. Early signs include personality changes, loss of social
skills and inhibitions, emotional blunting, and language abnormalities.
Onset is most commonly 50 to 60 years of age; death occurs in 2 to 5
years.
o Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a central nervous system disorder that
typically develops in adults 40 to 60 years of age. It involves altered
vision, loss of coordination or abnormal movements, and dementia that
usually progresses rapidly (a few months). The cause of the
encephalopathy is an infectious particle resistant to boiling, some
disinfectants (e.g., formalin, alcohol), and ultraviolet radiation. Pressured
autoclaving or bleach can inactivate the particle.
o Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive neurologic condition
characterized by tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. It
results from loss of neurons of the basal ganglia. Dementia has been
reported in approximately 20% to 60% of people with Parkinson's disease
and is characterized by cognitive and motor slowing, impaired memory,
and impaired executive functioning.
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