Chapter 42 Confusion and dementia Flashcards
Cognitive function
Involves memory, thinking, reasoning, ability to understand, judgment, and behavior
Confusion
a state of being disoriented to person, time, place, situation or identity
Delirium
A state of sudden, severe confusion and rapid changes in brain function
Acute confusion
Delusion
a false belief
Dementia
loss of cognitive function that interferes with daily life and activities
Elopement
When a patient or resident leaves the agency without staff knowledge
Hallucination
seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, or tasting something that is not real
Paranoia
a disorder of the mind, false beliefs and suspicion, about a person and situation
Sundowning
signs, symptoms, and behaviors of dementia increase during hours of darkness
Changes in the brain and nervous system occurs:
with aging and desease
Nervous system changes from aging:
- nerve cells are lost
- nerve conduction slows
- reflexes, responses and reaction times are slower
- vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch decrease
- sensitivity to pain decrease
- blood flow to the brain is reduced
- sleep patterns change
- memory is shorter, forgetfulness occurs
-dizziness can occur
Delirium occurs suddenly:
usually temporally
causes include:
-infection, drugs, illness, surgery, injury
treatment is aimed at cause
Is dementia hereditary?
Yeah it is
Early warning signs of dementia:
- Recent memory loss that affects job skills
- Problems with common tasks
- Problems with language; forgetting simple words
- Getting lost in familiar places
- Misplacing things and putting things in odd places
- Personality changes
- Poor or decreased judgment
- Loss of interest in life
Types of permanent dementia:
- Alzheimer’s disease (most common)
- vascular dementia (stroke or other blood vessel problems damage vessels that supply blood to the brain)
- Lewy body dementia (abnormal protein deposits in the brain, lewy bodies affect chemicals in brain)
-Fronto-temporal disorders (nerve cells in certain areas of the brain [front and sides] break down) - Mixed dementia (2 or more types of dementia occur together)
Treatable causes of dementia:
- Drugs and alcohol
- Delirium and depression
- Tumors
- Heart, lung, and blood vessel problems
- Head injuries
- Infection
- Vision and hearing problems
Alzheimer’s disease functions affected:
- Memory
- Thinking
- Reasoning
- Judgment
- Language
- Behavior
- Mood
- Personality
What happens to the brain with alzheimer’s
Many brain cells are destroyed and die
connections between nerve cells are lost
brain shrinks from nerve cell death and tissue loss
Two abnormal structures are thought to cause damage in alheimer’s
Plaques- protein that build up in the spaces between nerve cells
Tangles- twisted protein fibers that build up inside cells
Dementia age group
65+
Alzheimer’s age group
60+
Classic sign of alzheimer’s
gradual loss of short term memory
Mild stage alzheimer’s
- memory loss
- poor judgment, bad decisions
- loss of spontaneity and initiative
- taking longer to do daily tasks
- repeating questions
- problems handling money and paying bills
- wandering and getting lost
- losing things or misplacing them in odd places
- anxiety or aggression
- mood and personality changes
Moderate stage alzheimer’s
- increased memory loss and confusion
- cannot learn new things
- problems with language, reading, writing, and working with numbers
- trouble with thoughts and thinking logically
- shortened attention span
- problem coping with new situations
- problems recognizing family and friends
- hallucinations, delusions and paranoia
- impulsive behavior [undressimg at inappropriate times etc]
- restlessness, agitation, anxiety tearfulness
- wandering
- repetitive statements and movements
Severe stage alzheimer’s
- depends on others of care
- in bed most or all the time
- cannot communicate
- weight loss
- seizures
- skin infections
- difficulty swallowing
- groaning, moaning, grunting
- increased sleeping
- loss of bowel and bladder control
Symptoms and early signs of Alzheimer’s disease
- memory loss
- problems with planning or problem solving
-problems completing a familiar task - confusion with time and place
- problems with vision and spatial relationships
- problems with speaking and writing
-misplacing items and being unable to find them
-decreased or poor judgment - withdrawal from work and social activities
- mood and personality changes
Common behaviors and changes of AD
- wandering and getting lost
- sundowning
- hallucinations
- delusions
- paranoia
- catastrophic reactions
-agitation and aggression - communication changes
- screaming
- repetitive behaviors
- rummaging and hiding things
- changes in intimacy and sexuality
- health problems
- emotions
- changes in routine
Safety alert for older persons who are missing
Silver alert
Code silver
MedicAlert + Alzheimer’s association safe return
a nationwide 24-hour emergency service for persons who wander or have a medical emergency
persons will have an ID with them, wallet bracelet or necklace and person’s family will be called if the person has been found
The most common early symptom of AD
difficulty remembering newly learned information
