Alzheimer's Disease



Alzheimer's Disease

Case study Alzheimer's disease

This is a case study of 85 year old women with the nine year old diagnosed problem of Alzheimer's disease. It was diagnosed when she had problem of short term memory loss.

Case history

The most important thing regarding her memory loss was that she begin to misplace her various things and sometimes at very illogical places. It is also the problem with the absent mindedness. She also had problem with remembering routes and got loss in her way back to home where she was residing for more than forty five years. Family and neighbors also noticed change in her behavior that she was becoming more isolated and quiet. She also had some serious issues like going out in winter without her coat and in her nightgown. Once she forgot to turn off the kitchen which caused a fire but not very serious. All these problems required proper medical consultation.

Family History

Her father died at 70 from CVA. Mother died from AD at the age of 80. One brother died at the age of 65 from an MI. she has a sister who died of ad five years ago at the age of 76.She is widowed for 14 years, after 55 years of marriage.

Physical Assessment and Diagnostic Data

Based on her case study and symptoms this woman required a mini-mental status exam (MMSE) to assess her problems in which she scored 18 out of 30 points. She was administered with Aricept (donepezil) in the beginning which helps to recover her memory and mood. She was also tested for the systematic disease but there was no abnormality in her case except for the minor problem of iron deficiency anemia. Her CT scan of brain showed moderate to severe cerebral atrophy in the temporal and parietal lobes bilaterally.

Question 1: what is the path physiology of Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is clinically diagnosed with the help of past history. It mostly reveals the loss of memory in routine activities and performing other functions. It is also an important fact that this condition reveals the problem in dealing with people and patient become isolate. The path physiology of this disease reveals through the neuropathologic findings. These neuropathologic examinations of the patient in Alzheimer's disease reveal the amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and synaptic and neuronal cell death (Cummings,et.al, 1998 p. 2-17). Granulovacuolar degeneration in the hippocampus and amyloid deposition in blood vessels can also be observed during the examination of this disease.

Question 2: what risk factors does she possess for developing AD?

In case of AD she possesses various risk factors like complete loss of memory and isolation. In her case it may also cause harm as she once caused a fire when forgot to turn off the stove. These kinds of accidents can occur often. It also involves the risk factor of loosing language skills and creates problem in other activities. Small size of head and head injuries can also result in the Alzheimer's disease.

Question 3: describe the MMSE, the ...