4-15 Flashcards
What brings special pressures, unique upsets, and major biological changes
old age
Living on a fixed income, running out of money are two what related to aging
pressures related to aging
Elder abuse, health problems of age, arthritis are what related to aging
unique traumatic experiences and biological abnormalities related to aging
Largest generation ever
baby boomers
The percentage of elderly people in the population is expected to be more than _____ percent in 2030
20
Field of psychology dedicated to the mental health of elderly people
GEROPSYCHOLOGY
Percent of elderly that would benefit from mental health services and percent that actually receive them
50 percent, 20 percent
The psychological problems of elderly persons may be divided into two groups
Disorders, Disorders of cognition
Term for problems may be common in people of all ages but are connected to the process of aging
disorders of aging
Term for problems that result from brain abnormalities
Disorders of cognition
Depression, anxiety, and substance use among the elderly fall in the category of aging
disorders of aging
Delirium, mild neurocognitive disorder, major neurocognitive disorder are three elderly disorders that fall in the category of aging
disorders of cognition
One of the most common mental health problems of older adults, mostly women, raises risk of suicide
depression
Another mental disorder common among the elderly, more common among women
anxiety disorders
The most prevalent anxiety disorder among the elderly
general anxiety disorder GAD
Leading kind of substance abuse among the elderly, often unintentional
Prescription drug misuse
Another form of substance abuse among the elderly, occurs in institutions where patients need most care, often occurs when medication is stolen or over-medication
Nursing home medication misuse
With age, ___________ increase, and they may occur regularly by age 60 or 70
memory difficulties and lapses of attention
Most cognitive problems come from ________, particularly when they appear in later life
disease
DELIRIUM, NEUROCOGNITIVE DISORDER, and MILD NEUROCOGNITIVE DISORDER
leading cognitive disorders among elderly persons
Characterized by a major disturbance in attention and orientation to the environment, lose track of day, time of day, very noticeable, sometime hallucinations, agitated by confusion
DELIRIUM
Includes over the course of hours or a few days, the individual experiences fastmoving and fluctuating disturbances in attention and orientation to the environment
Dx for delirium
Collection of disorders characterized by significant decline in at least one area of cognitive function
Neurocognitive Disorders
Term for Memory and learning, Attention, Visual perception, Planning and decision making, Language ability, Social awareness, Personality and behavior changes
areas of cognitive functioning
Area of cognitive functioning describing confusion over visual images
Visual perception
Area of cognitive functioning describing inability to plan or make decision
Planning and decision making
Area of cognitive functioning describing inability to remember or learn things
memory and learning
Area of cognitive functioning describing inability to speak, eg stuttering, confabulation
language ability
Term for someone in the beginning stages of neurocognitive disorder where someone talks all around the issue to buy time to remember
confabulation
Area of cognitive functioning describing inability to behave properly in public
social awareness
Area of cognitive functioning describing person changing into someone you don’t even know anymore
Personality and behavior changes
Two different neurocognitive categories
Major Neurocognitive Disorder, Mild Neurocognitive Disorder
Major difference between major and minor neurocognitive disorder
in major, cognitive deficits interfere with everyday dependence; in mild, deficits do not interfere with independence
The occurrence of substantial cognitive decline is closely related to age. Fewer than _______ percent of all 60-year-olds have major neurocognitive disorders, compared with as many as _____ percent of those who are 85
1 percent, 50 percent
Most common type of neurocognitive disorder and accounts for as many as two-thirds of all cases, early onset is rare, most happens after 65
Alzheimer’s Disease
Early onset Alzheimer’s often has ______ component
genetic
6 steps of Alzheimer’s progression
mild memory problems, trouble completing tasks and remembering, difficulty with simple tasks and personality changes, less awareness of limitations, fully dependent with no knowledge of past and not recognizing familiar faces, usually in good health until later stages of disease
Senile plaques, Neurofibrillary tangles indicate
structural brain changes of Alzheimer’s
Found between neurons in the brain, indicates Alzheimer’s in an autopsy
senile plaques
Neurons that have died and shriveled, indicates Alzheimer’s in an autopsy
Neurofibrillary tangles
Alzheimer’s can only be definitively diagnosed when
after death
Researchers have found that this form of Alzheimer’ s disease can be caused by abnormalities in the genes responsible for the production of two proteins, involves familial transmission of genes
Early-onset Alzheimer’s
This form of the disease appears to result from a combination of genetic, environmental, and Iifestyle factors, APO-4 gene increases vulnerability
Late-onset Alzheimer’s
What factors for Alzheimer’s include damage to brain structures involved with recognizing people, prefrontal lobes, temporal lobes, diencephalon (mamillary bodies, thalamus, hypothalamus)
biological factors
What factors involved with Alzheimer’s involve chemicals for proper function of memory and production of proteins
biochemical factors
Four biochemicals involved with Alzheimer’s disease
acetylcholine, glutamate, RNA, calcium
Explanation of Alzheimer’s disease that includes zinc, lead, autoimmune, and viral
Lther explanations of Alzheimer’s disease
Most cases of Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed with certainty only after death, when an _______ is performed
autopsy
One assessment tool which reveals structural abnormalities in the brain, which is viewed as an assessment tool is the
brain scan (PET scan)
Neurocognitive disorder that suddenly appears, follows a CVA during which blood flow to specific areas of the brain was cut off, with resultant damage
VASCULAR NEUROCOGNITIVE DISORDER
Drug therapy for neurocognitive disorders that have had limited success target memory and affect which neurotransmitters
ACh and glutamate
Drug therapies for neurocognitive disorders that have had modest success target what
off-label, NSAIDs, cognitive, behavioral treatments
Three other treatments for neurocognitive disorders
home care, day-care, assisted living
