Dementia Flashcards
1
Q
normal aging
A
- language remains intact
- slight decline in attention skills/divided attention breaks down in complex tasks
- reaction time is slowed
- long term and procedural memory intact
- episodic and short term memory reduce
2
Q
dementia
A
- acquired global loss of brain function with slow insidious onset
- caused by variety of diseases
- stigma with dementia: terms changing
3
Q
major neurocognitive disorder
A
significant cognitive decline in 1 or more domains that interferes with independence daily life
4
Q
mild neurocognitive disorder
A
modest cognitive decline in 1 or more domain
5
Q
10 warning signs of dementia
A
- memory loss affecting daily function
- hard to perform familiar tasks
- language problems
- time/place disorientation
- poor/decreased judgement
- misplacing things
- mood/behavior changes
- changes in personality
- loss of initiative
6
Q
alzheimer’s disease
A
- cortical dementia
- most common
- presence of neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaques, granulovacuolar degeneration, general neuronal atrophy
- diagnosed through clinical signs, autopsy or Pittsburg Compound Test
7
Q
early stage of alzheimer’s
A
- motor function retained
- short-term memory loss, anomia, comprehension of verbal language deficits, personality changes
- last about 2 years
8
Q
mid stage of alzheimer’s
A
- negative impact on ADLs and reliance on others
- more severe short-term loss, attention deficits, dramatic personality changes, visuospatial and visuoconstructive deficits, expressive language deficits
- wanderlust, sundownder syndrome, disorientation/confusion
- last from 4-10 years
9
Q
late stage of alzheimer’s
A
- loss of motor function
- nonambulatory, bedridden, incontinent, unresponsive
- memory, cognition, expressive language deficits are profound (may cause muteness/dysphagia)
10
Q
frontotemporal dementia
A
- degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes
- includes pick’s disease and primary progressive aphasia
11
Q
vascular dementia
A
- mixed dementia caused by ischemic strokes within the cortex, subcortex, or both
- multiple cognitive deficits
- hyperactive reflexes/weakness
- acute onset followed by stepwise progression of degeneration
12
Q
parkinson’s disease
A
- lewis body disease: loss of dopamine producing cells in substantia nigra
- characterized by motor abnormalities (rigidity, tremor, slowness of volitional movement)
- motor abnormalities at rest, bradykinesia, mask-like facial expressions
13
Q
huntington’s disease
A
- subcortical dementia
- progress terminal illness due to distinctive involuntary erratic body movements
- cause changes in personality, cognition, language, emotion
- neuropathology - production of mutant huntingtin protein that creates degeneration of basal ganglia, hippocampus, substantia nigra, purkinje cells of pons
14
Q
assessment of dementia
A
- detailed case history
- rating scales and assessments: wechsler adult intelligence scale (cognitive status); arizona batter for communication disorders of dementia
15
Q
medical management
A
- maximizes cognitive abilities which remain
- commonly used meds: donepezil (aricept), memantine (namenda)
