Discussion Response-Dementia

Discussion Response-Dementia

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your post on dementia. I read a little more about the different types of dementia and discovered some interesting causes (Alzheimer’s Association, n.d). The most common form of dementia is mixed dementia, where the abnormal protein deposits linked to Alzheimer’s disease co-exist with problems of the blood vessels linked to vascular dementia. Changes in Alzheimer’s brain also co-exist with Lewy bodies. A person may have changes in the brain linked to Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers do not know the exact number of older persons that are currently diagnosed with specific dementia have, in fact, mixed dementia. However, autopsies indicate the condition can be significantly higher than previously assumed. Autopsies play a major role in shedding light when it comes to mixed dementia because scientists are unable to measure most of the changes that occur in the brains of living persons. In studies that are currently the most informative, researchers correlate the participant’s cognitive health and any problems the individuals have been diagnosed with during their life with the brain analysis done after death.

Another form of dementia is one that is due to Korsakoff syndrome, which causes patients to confabulate or make up information. A person will not necessarily be lying; instead, because the person cannot remember information, they will choose to make it up and actually believe the invented explanations. Scientists have not yet gotten an explanation of how Korsakoff syndrome causes confabulation. A person can also hallucinate.

Then there is the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which results in a form of dementia, although it progresses faster than any other form of dementia. There are three types of this kind of dementia. The sporadic version develops spontaneously for unknown reasons. It accounts for 85% of cases and first appears in persons aged between 60 and 65 years. The acquired version of the disease results from exposure to an abnormal external source of the prion protein; medical procedures that involve instruments used in neurosurgery, growth hormone from certain transplanted tissues, and human sources, including dura mater and corneas. The abnormal protein can also be introduced through consuming infected beef with ‘mad cow disease.’ Lastly, there is the familial version of the illness which is caused by specific changes in the chromosome 20 gene that codes the prion protein blueprint.

Reference

Alzheimer’s Association (n.d). Types of Dementia. https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia/types-of-dementia

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Discussion Response-Dementia

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Dementias – Healthy People 2020 (n.d.) lists a new area: Dementia’s including Alzheimer’s disease. This is particularly interesting to me, as a Certified Dementia Practitioner. While Dementia is so common in our culture, many healthcare professionals are not well-educated on the differences in Dementia’s. Healthcare providers that aren’t well versed cannot assist families to their highest potential. Alzheimer’s is 80% of all Dementia’s that are diagnosed, but there are stark differences in the treatments for the other 20%, which makes accurate diagnosis imperative.
Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s Dementia, AIDS – related complex Dementia, and Huntington’s among other dementias all have different pathophysiologies that need addressed differently. While I am excited that this area has been added to the list, I am disappointed that very little information is given on the webpage. For instance, hallucinations are common in Lewy Body Dementia and cannot be controlled with anti-psychotic medications, however, with an incorrect diagnosis, the person with dementia will be given a medication with severe side effects that they do not need, thinking the person has developed a mental illness, or worse yet, to control symptoms. “Although the presence of hallucinations in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies might increase administration of neuroleptics, the dopamine dysfunction involved means that typical antipsychotic use may worsen or precipitate symptoms of Parkinson disease. There is rarely a need to treat hallucinations if they do not cause agitation in the patient, which is often the case in dementia with Lewy bodies (Mortimer & Mortimer, 2017).

NOTES:

Initial Discussion Prompt

Discussion Response-Dementia

Examine Healthy People 2020 health promotion and disease prevention objectives. Identify a health disparity and research this topic, how is it being addressed at both the local and national level.