Jenkins Keith HCS245 Wk3 Mental Behavioral Case Study
Keith Jenkins
Mental/Behavioral Case Study
Ms. Wytisha Carter
HCS/245
November 10, 2014
I am doing a case study for Jenny Stanson, who is a 20-year-old college student who that is currently living with her grandmother. Lately, she has been noticing that her grandmother seems to be confused at times, and often forgets things she has told her. She also informed me that her grandmother is often rather short-tempered. From what jenny says, this does not seem to be her usual manner and happens only infrequently, but Jenny is concerned. She stated that someone told her that her grandmother might be suffering from early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Upon doing research on the disease I learned that Alzheimer's disease is perhaps the most common form of dementia, although several others exist. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease of the brain. In the early stages, people experience some memory loss which progresses to marked memory loss, then to a decrease in thinking ability such as decision making. Later the disease leads to the loss in the ability to perform activities of daily living or recognize loved ones. The changes in the brain that often mirror the decline in thinking are the development of plaques and tangles in the brain. These changes may begin in areas of the brain associated with memory, but later spread more widely throughout the brain. The plaques and tangles can lead to a gradual loss of connections between brain cells and eventually cell death. Based upon the information she shared with me, I’m placing her grandmother in the early stages of Alzheimer’s due to her age and the symptoms she’s currently presenting. Especially after learning that starting at age 65, the risk of developing the disease doubles every five years, and that by age 85 years and older, between 25 and 50 percent of people will exhibit signs of Alzheimer’s disease. I did inform Jenny though, that there are things she could do and practice and speak to her
Mental/Behavioral Case Study
Ms. Wytisha Carter
HCS/245
November 10, 2014
I am doing a case study for Jenny Stanson, who is a 20-year-old college student who that is currently living with her grandmother. Lately, she has been noticing that her grandmother seems to be confused at times, and often forgets things she has told her. She also informed me that her grandmother is often rather short-tempered. From what jenny says, this does not seem to be her usual manner and happens only infrequently, but Jenny is concerned. She stated that someone told her that her grandmother might be suffering from early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Upon doing research on the disease I learned that Alzheimer's disease is perhaps the most common form of dementia, although several others exist. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease of the brain. In the early stages, people experience some memory loss which progresses to marked memory loss, then to a decrease in thinking ability such as decision making. Later the disease leads to the loss in the ability to perform activities of daily living or recognize loved ones. The changes in the brain that often mirror the decline in thinking are the development of plaques and tangles in the brain. These changes may begin in areas of the brain associated with memory, but later spread more widely throughout the brain. The plaques and tangles can lead to a gradual loss of connections between brain cells and eventually cell death. Based upon the information she shared with me, I’m placing her grandmother in the early stages of Alzheimer’s due to her age and the symptoms she’s currently presenting. Especially after learning that starting at age 65, the risk of developing the disease doubles every five years, and that by age 85 years and older, between 25 and 50 percent of people will exhibit signs of Alzheimer’s disease. I did inform Jenny though, that there are things she could do and practice and speak to her
References: http://www.alz.org/alzwa/in_my_community http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/basics/mental-illness/dementia.htm