Nursing Assessment

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Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common causes of dementia. Dementia is a type of aging disease that leads to a reduction in the size of the brain and its general function. In most of the cases, the cause of the condition is usually not identifiable due to the lack of a known disease process. Simply put, dementia variedly develops among elderly people without any specific cause. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for up to 80 percent of the causes of dementia. This alone shows the relevance of this condition in the elderly age groups. This is a type of age-related disease that leads to the degeneration of the brain without any known trigger. This condition drastically worsens over time among the people that are affected. While the disease affects many functions of the brain, the most commonly identifiable initial symptom is memory challenges due to the impact of the degeneration on the part of the brain that regulates the memory (Grossberg & Desai, 2003). The victim will begin by losing longterm memories such as their date of birth and long-term notable life events. Later on, they will fail to even remember the most recent events such as their last meals. In the most advanced cases of the condition, individuals lose other crucial functions of the brain leading them to have a change in their mood stability, difficulty concentrating and in worst cases the withdrawal from the society. The condition usually leads to death in its last phase (Imbimbo, Lombard & Pomara, 2005).

After the diagnosis, the life expectancy for these individuals becomes 3 to 9 years. It is important to observe that the progression of this disease will vary from individual to individual. Most of the symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s disease are due to the loss of function in the part of the brain that controls normal function and intelligence. The organic function of the brain that controls essential things like breathing is usually unaffected. This disease can be treated by drugs that attempt to counter symptoms such as memory loss. However, these medications are rarely effective in the long term. Behavioral treatment options have also been developed with the elderly people being taught basic functions that will make them independent.
Alzheimer’s disease is usually caused by a disorder in the neurons which leads to their atrophy and eventual loss of synapses in the functional part of the cerebral cortex and in some cases the other subcortical regions. These changes accumulate to lead to the general atrophy of the regions that are affected. The temporal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex are often the most affected. The frontal lobe may also be involved in varied cases (Gauthier, 2006). The symptoms for this disease usually present depending on which part of the brain is affected. Generally, the victim will lose a function of the associated with the affected part of the brain. For instance, in individuals where the frontal cortex is extensively involved, they usually lose both the short-term memory and intelligence. In these individuals, a common routine such as grooming is usually affected thereby making it easy to identify the disease early. Where the cingulate gyrus is affected, the memory is extensively impaired. The treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is usually aimed at masking of the symptoms (Jack et al., 2013). The use of drugs such as Aricept significantly improves the brain function and memory early in the disease. The disease can also be treated by behavioral therapies which enable the individual to perform basic functions that ensure their survival.

References
Imbimbo, B. P., Lombard, J., & Pomara, N. (2005). Pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Neuroimaging Clinics, 15(4), 727-753.
Jack Jr, C. R., Knopman, D. S., Jagust, W. J., Petersen, R. C., Weiner, M. W., Aisen, P. S., … & Lesnick, T. G. (2013). Tracking pathophysiological processes in Alzheimer’s disease: an updated hypothetical model of dynamic biomarkers. The Lancet Neurology, 12(2), 207-216.
Gauthier, S. (Ed.). (2006). Clinical diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease. CRC Press.
Grossberg, G. T., & Desai, A. K. (2003). Management of Alzheimer’s disease. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 58(4), M331-M353.