When the neurons get damaged and no longer function efficiently the resulting limitations differ, depending on which side of the brain is damaged. The right side of the brain will cause problems understanding things, and recognizing people and things. Damage in the left side of the brain has been seen to cause by depression, and problems with speech. 1.4 How other factors can cause changes in an individual’s condition that may not be attributable to dementia A variety of
CU4365 UNDERSTAND THE FACTORS AFFECTING OLDER PEOPLE 1.1 DESCRIBE CHANGES THAT MAY COME WITH AGEING. Some of the body changes are as listed below: What happens | Why | Mental function:Difficulty remembering or coming up with the right wordDifficulty concentratingDifficulty learning new material | The nerve cells in the brain release different amounts of some chemical messengers (which send impulses from cell to cell), and the number of receptors on nerve cells may decrease. Thus, the brain does not send or process impulse as well or as quickly. | Physical activity:Unsteadiness or loss of balance. | Structures in the inner ear that help with balance stiffen and deteriorate slightly.The part of the brain that controls balance (cerebellum)
However; when these changes occur, will depend on the individual. This depends on what the body has been through like environmental factors such as accidents, infections, disease, smoking or alcohol. Sensory changes will often happen when ageing as individuals receive and process information from the environment by hearing, vision, taste, smell and touch. When going through the ageing process these five senses are likely to be diminished and incoming information can get distorted. Another physical change is hearing where 30% of people over 60 have an hearing impairment.
For instance people with dementia can be affected by grief as in the most common of circumstances they are elderly and may have suffered the loss of a partner. Greif can affect people in a variety of ways and emotionally it can suppress a person’s appetite leading to dehydration and mal nutrition, or someone comfort eating and eating excessive amounts leading to weight gain and possibly someone becoming obese. 2. Explain how poor nutrition can contribute to an individual’s experience of dementia. If someone has poor nutrition
The loss of cognitive function can also cause one to lose their ability to love an independent life. For the people that suffer from memory loss it can make everyday life very difficult for them. When you look at memory loss the onset can come very gradually or in some cases it can come on very suddenly. The loss of memory can also be referred to as amnesia. When you define memory loss it is defined as the inability to recall events from the past.
They can forget to take medications, forget that they need to eat or drink or wash and change their clothes. 3.1 The cause of dementia include various diseases or infections, Drugs, head injuries or malnutrition 3.2 Signs and symptoms of the most common causes of dementia include memory loss, personality change, impaired intellectual function. A noticeable decline in communication and signs of depression, learning and remembering things are forgotten. 3.3 The risk factors for the most common causes of dementia include having a family history, smoking, having high cholesterol and drinking large amounts of alcohol. 3.4 4.1 Individuals living with dementia may experience loss of hearing, which can make things difficult for communication and experience feeling frustrated with others causing misunderstanding of commands.
Working with individuals with Dementia calls for different approaches to communication. As dementia impairs a person’s ability to communicate effectively, it also reduces the ability to decode and understand information. It decreases the persons capacity to plan and problem solve. These language deficits are compounded by other dementia related impairments including decreased attention span and memory loss. The combination of all these attribute to a serious communication loss.
Outcome 1 Understand the factors that impact on an individual with sensory loss (1, 2, 3) There are five senses these are; Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste and Smell. Sensory loss is seen as a reduced ability to respond to stimuli that affect our senses, For example vision loss might mean that we cannot see a person across the street waving at us, hearing loss might result in us struggling to hear people speaking in a certain tone of voice. The impact of these losses can lead to social isolation, trauma, loneliness and feelings of depression or anxiety. There are many ways that someone could develop a sensory loss, the reasons are varied from being born with a condition (congenital) where the person maybe deaf or blind to having an accident/receiving a brain injury and losing their sense of smell, this we call Anosmia (the lack of or the inability to smell). Disease or illness also has an impact on sensory loss, a person who had previously been able to hear music, speech etc could become profoundly deaf as a result of infection which could be permanent or temporary.
They will have to retire from their jobs, which could result in the loss of social contacts. The loss of a loved one is devastating for older adults, also. These factors and others may lead to depression. “Depression has been defined as, hopelessness, helplessness, anxiety symptoms, memory complaints; loss of pleasure, slowed movements, irritability and loss of interest in personal care” (Goncalves, Albuquergue, Byrne, & Pachana, 2009. p.610). Depression could potentially reduce the quality of life and possibly increase medical morbidity and mortality in older adults.
Assessment Task 3 – Independent research project Multiple Sclerosis Definition Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system where messages between the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves are disrupted. Symptoms and effects include: Motor control problems such as muscle spasms, fatigue, continence problems, and constant pain. The strain of dealing with this condition can result in social and psychological problems for example depression. Other symptoms are cognitive dysfunction and can result in the person having difficulty maintaining a train of thought or keeping up with a conversation when there are too many topics being discussed, and respiratory dysfunction, which courses an impairment of respiratory muscles. (http://www.msaustralia.org.au/understanding-ms) Key Issues