7. Geriatric Psychiatry Flashcards
What are the primary types of psychiatric illnesses that occur in elderly?
- Dementia (DSM 5 = Major Neurocognitive Disorder)
- Psychosis
- Substance Abuse
- Depression
What criteria for diagnosis of dementia?
- Chronic, progressive ↓ in cognitive decline from previous performance in 1 or more domains that is usually irreversible:
- Complex attention
- Executive function
- Learning and memory
- Language
- Perceptual motor
- Social cognition
- Concerns patient, other or clinician
- Modest impariment in cognitive performance on by neuropsych testing or another assessment
- Patient can STILL perform day- to -day functions/be indepedent (no LOC)
- Must rule out depression as a reversible cause of dementia (pseudodementia)
All types of dementia can be designated as what?
1. Major
2. Minor
When treating geriatric patient for psych illnesses, what is important to consider?
Can have;
- Multiple diseases
- Different diseases: most often degenerative and cancer
- Present differently
- Differentiate NL aging from disease
- Often under-report bc they dont recognize/fail to report signs of aging
How is the purpose of treatment in elderly patients different from younger??
Focus more on palliative care, instead of living longer
What is the rule of prescribing medications in geriatric patients?
Start low, go slow.
What are the types of dementia, in order from most common?
- 1. Alzheimers disease
- 2. Vascular Dementia
- 3. Progressive disorders: Picks Disease (frontotemporal dementia) or Lewy body Dementia
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4. Reversible causes:
- Drug-induced
- Thyroid-induced
- Metabolic disorders
- Hematomas
- Hydrocephalus: NL pressure hydrocephalus
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What are reversible causes of dementia?
- Drug-induced
- Thyroid disease (hypothyroid)
- Metabolic Disorders
- Hematomas
- Hydrocephalus: NL pressure hydrocephalus
What progressive disorders cause dementia?
- Pick’s Disease (frontotemporal dementia)
- Lewy body disease
What is the most common cause of dementia in elderly?
Alzheimers Disease (50-60% of people with dementia)
Who has an ↑ risk of Alzheimers?
- Female
- FHx
- Head trauma
- Down- syndrome, because APP gene is located on Chr 21.
- Schizophrenia
What is the 2nd MC cause of dementia in elderly?
Vascular dementia (15-30%) = Dementia that develops after multiple small strokes due to multiple infarcts/chronic ischemia, causing a step-wise decline in cognitive ability with late-onset memory loss
Who has an ↑ risk of Vascular dementia?
- Male
- Old age
- HTN or CV disease
What is Picks Disease?
- A progressive form of dementia due to degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes, causing change in personality and behavior (frontal lobe) and aphasia (temporal lobe).
- Assciated with:
- 1. Hyperphosphorylated spherical tau proteins
- 2. Ubiquitinated TDP-43
What is Lewy Body Dementia?
Build-up of intracellular Lewy bodies (protein alpha-synuclein) in the CTX (if buildup in BG = Parkinsons), causing a triad:
- Cognitive symptoms: Visual hallucinations (haLEWYcinations) and memory loss
- Motor symptoms: Parkinson -like symptoms occur less than 1 year after cognitive
- REM sleep behavior disorder
In Lewy-Body dementia, what happens if cognitive and motor symptoms occur > 1 year apart?
Dementia due to Parkinsons
What is pseudodementia and why is it important to rule out?
- Depression in geriatric pt’s can look like dementia!
- Tx depression and sx’s will improve!