ST Thomas University Week 6 Neurological Function Discussion

Beauge, Farah

Nov 25, 2020 at 20:32

Neurological Function

There are several risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The most common risk factors associated with the medical condition are age, genetic family history, sex, down syndrome, past head trauma, and environmental and lifestyle factors that affect the brain over time. As people grow old, the chances of developing Alzheimer’s diseases also increase. Family history and genetics increase people’s chances of developing Alzheimer’s, mostly if the condition was present in a first-degree parent or sibling. Down syndrome is the other risk factor; in most incidences, individuals with down syndrome develop Alzheimer’s disease. Individuals who had experienced severe head trauma are at a higher risk of Alzheimer’s medical condition. Studies indicate that poor sleep patterns are linked to increased chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease (“Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research,” 2018).

Alzheimer’s is one of the dementia diseases as well as vascular dementia. For causes, vascular dementia is mostly caused by acute specific events such as stroke or transient ischemic attacks in which blood flow to the patient’s brain is interrupted. It is also caused gradually by small blockages or slowing blood flow to the brain. On the contrary, Alzheimer’s is caused by several factors, including genetic components, an individual’s lifestyle, and other environmental factors. For vascular dementia, the associated risk factors are diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and other peripheral artery diseases. For Alzheimer’s, the common risk factors are age, family history, and general health. The cognitive ability of a person who has vascular dementia often declines suddenly depending on the attack. Still, it remains stable after some time, whereas Alzheimer’s patient’s ability to think and use memory declines gradually over time (Bhargava, 2020). The common similarities are the symptoms that include a decline in memory, alterations in thinking ability, changes in thinking skills, and communication and speech problems in general.

Frontotemporal dementia considered to be typically a behavior and or a language disorder, whereas Alzheimer’s begins as memory loss. Alzheimer attacks mostly the aged; hence the odds of contracting the disease increase with age, while for frontotemporal dementia, the odds of contracting the disease decrease with age. For frontotemporal dementia commonly starts with distinct behavioral changes, whereas for Alzheimer’s in the early stages, the patients tend to remain socially skillful. For Alzheimer’s patients, the apathy was always milder, while FTD patients become more pervasive and mostly seem to have no concern for other people. Alzheimer’s impatient tend to have difficulty learning and retaining new information, while FTD patients generally try to keep track of new events (“FTD Misdiagnosis, n.d.”).

Implicit memory refers to unconscious memories, and it influences our current behavior. Refers to things that we rarely purposely try to remember. They are not verbally articulated. Implicit memory is mostly procedural and focuses on the step-by-step processes that specific tasks follow. Explicit memory refers to conscious memory, which is very intentional and can be recalled and articulated. Explicit memory mainly involves events we can recall personal experiences and involve remembering facts and information, as McLaughlin argued (2020).

National Institute of Aging and Alzheimer’s Association has outlined several guidelines in the diagnosis of criteria. At the early stage, they state that thinking and behavior decrease a person’s ability to function independently. At the early stage, the criteria to use are neuropsychological testing, the inclusion of specialized brain imaging, and CSF testing (“Diagnostic Criteria & Guideline,” n.d.).

The best therapeutic approach for C.J. is pharmacological use, which will involve using medications such as cholinesterase that act as inhibitors. The medicine will help C.J. reduce her symptoms and control some behavioral symptoms that have started to crop up (“Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research,” 2018).

References

Bhargava, H. D. (2020, July 31). What Is the Difference Between Alzheimer’s and Dementia? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/alzheimers-and-dementia-whats-the-difference.

Diagnostic Criteria & Guidelines. Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. https://www.alz.org/research/for_researchers/diagnostic-criteria-guidelines.

FTD Misdiagnosis. Memory and Aging Center. https://memory.ucsf.edu/dementia/ftd/ftd-misdiagnosis.

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2018, December 8). Alzheimer’s disease. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350447.

McLaughlin, K. (2020, June 13). Implicit and Explicit Memory. Biology Dictionary. https://biologydictionary.net/implicit-explicit-memory/.