Alzheimer's Disease

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Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurologic disease of the brain that leads to the irreversible loss of neurons and dementia. The clinical hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease are progressive impairment in memory, judgment, decision making, orientation to physical surroundings, and language. Alzheimer's disease is a very difficult disease to deal with for the patient and family. Patients with alzheimer's deal with alot of anxiety and confusion while the family struggles with grief that the patients ability to reconginze the family and life are fading. In the Notebook we see both sides of the struggles of dealing with Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's comes in 7 different stages. Stage 1 is the No Impairment Stage. In this stage the person does not…show more content…
They may lose the ability to smile, sit up without support and reflexes become abnormal. Swallowing may become impaired and muscles are rigid. Allie was in stage 6 of Alzheimer's Disease. She required some help with her ADLs. She was experiencing personality changes and she was not able to remember things in her life. She has gaps in her memory. Allie was unable to remember details of her life but there was them brief moments when Noah was able to get her memory back, if only for a few minutes, she could remember the life they shared. There are several nursing interventions that can be used when dealing with Alzhiemers Disease. Establish an effective communication system with the patient and his family to help them adjust to the patient's altered cognitive abilities. Provide emotional support to the patient and his family to prevent confusion and help elimate stress. Encourage them to talk about their concerns. Use a soft tone and a slow, calm manner when speaking to patient. Allow the patient time to answer questions to insure effective communication skills. Administer medications as ordered and note their effects. Protect the patient from injury by providing a safe environment. Provide rest periods between activities to…show more content…
He never pushed her to remember things about their life. He was patient as well as the family. The children never pushed for Allie to remember who they were. But at the same time they had given up that she would remember anything and wanted their father to come home with them and leave Allie at the facility by herself. They didnt understand the need for Noah to be there. The need for Allie to remember. Noah read to Allie to get her to remember the love they once shared. He needed that few minutes, when she remember, to believe that true love lived no matter what obsticals they had to overcome. I believe that Noah read to Allie for his own mental health. Where I do believe that he truely believed that she would come out of it and remember who she was and the love they shared, he did it because he couldnt let go. He did not want their love to end and he read to help keep their love growing. I do think that reading to her helped her condition. She stayed interested in the story and it kept her occupied therefore she did not get confused as she may have

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