Dementia/ Alzheimer’s disease
Dementia/ Alzheimer’s disease is a cognitive disease that is age non-related. The damage to the cerebral hemisphere causes it. Loss of nerve cells and their connection in the brain. The disease affects people differently and causes different symptoms. It is caused by direct trauma such as the death of a loved one or sudden, heartbreaking news. The disease leads to a lack of memory disorders, personality and behavioral change, and impaired reasoning. Dementia diseases, the symptoms are mild in the first stages but gradually increases. It begins with mild memory loss, but the final stage is the loss of the ability to respond to persons and the environment.
The effects of dementia include using poor judgment in making decisions, withdrawal from work or social engagements, confusion with location or passage of time, getting lost, or misplacing items.
In case a patient has dementia, nutritional considerations should be put in place. The food should have an increase in energy and protein intake. Protein foods help in is fit for the growth of body tissues while the energy giving foods the energy needed by the body. The caregivers should also avoid destructions during feeding time. In cases where the patient cannot feed themselves, the caregiver should hand feed them. Weight maintenance is also vital, which includes motor skills, exercise, and mobility training.
The family needs support and encouragement from the nurses in extreme cases. Emotional, physical, and psychological support should be given to the patient. The patient should not be left to feel hopeless. Understanding the patient, listening to them, and touching them makes them have hope for life, as stated by Falkner and Green.
Reference
Angel Falkner and Sue Z. Green Neurological, perceptual and cognitive complexities retrieved from Pathophysiology Clinical Applications for client Health.
https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs410v/pathophysiology-clinical-applications-for-client-health/v1.1/
DQ2:
Stroke is a disease that occurs when the blood supply to the part of the brain is interrupted or reduced. Stroke is due to the loss of nerve cells and their connection to the brain. It affects people differently and also portrays different symptoms in different people. Emergency and prompt treatment are crucial. Stroke is mostly characterized by many symptoms that may affect the patient and the family at large.
The symptoms include paralysis or numbness of the face, arm, or legs. A stroke makes the patient immobile; they may have trouble walking or doing the daily chores or routines. Patients also have trouble speaking and understanding what others are saying and having problems using one eye or both eyes. With the symptoms, the family and the patient have difficulties to come to terms with the disease as stated by Mclntosh (May 2020)
The disease can cause depression due to a change in lifestyle. A stroke may hinder recovery. Depression may come in a way a patient was used to a certain way of life, but the disease hinders that. The family may also be strained financially, in a case that the family’s breadwinner has the disease. Or better still, the cost of treatment may affect the family’s financial status. There is also strain family relationships. This is equated to an example of a husband who has a stroke; it affects the spouse and may lead to separation.
The nurses support the family and the patient by offering encouragement, listening to them, using touch, using silence when appropriate, and observing the patient’s sign of distress. The nurses should know the patient’s religious, cultural, and spiritual beliefs and gender preferences, which will help the nurses walk the journey with the patients, Falkner and Green explain further.
References
Angel Falkner and Sue Z. Green Neurological, perceptual and cognitive complexities retrieved from Pathophysiology Clinical Applications for client Health.
https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs410v/pathophysiology-clinical-applications-for-client-health/v1.1/
James Mclntosh (May, 2020)- Everything you need to know about stroke from Medical News Today