Alzheimer's Disease - 4 Nursing Diagnosis

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting up to 70% of all people with dementia. It was first recorded in 1907 by Dr Alois Alzheimer. Dr Alzheimer reported the case of Auguste Deter, a middle-aged woman with dementia and specific changes in her brain. For the next 60 years Alzheimer’s disease was considered a rare condition that afflicted people under the age of 65. It was not until the 1970s that Dr Robert Katzman declared (rather boldly at the time) that senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease were the same condition and that neither were a normal part of aging.


Risk factors

• Ageing.
• Caucasian.
• Family history. Small increased risk - 3.5-fold increase if a first-degree family member is affected.
• It is more common in women. (67% is in women, and 55% in men, unlike other types of dementia.)
• Apolipoprotein E4 variant - the largest known genetic risk factor in late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease, but wide differences in prevalence of the genotype in populations studied.
• Head injury.
• Risk factors associated with vascular disease; particularly hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension and diabetes implicated.
• Drinking wine seems to be protective.

10 warning signs of Alzheimer's:

1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure
4. Confusion with time or place
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
8. Decreased or poor judgment
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities
10. Changes in mood and personality

Alzheimer's Disease - 4 Nursing Diagnosis

1. Disturbed Thought Processes
2. Disturbed Sensory Perception
3. Disturbed Sleep pattern
4. Risk for Injury

Reference :

https://fightdementia.org.au
http://www.patient.co.uk
http://www.alz.org
http://nandanursingdiagnosis.blogspot.com

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