Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Dementia
What happens to a family when one member -- the husband -- slides into the terrible and mysterious illness called frontotemporal dementia? How does his wife deal with his disease? An article in The New York Times delves deeply into the life of a New York engineer named Michael French, who began acting in bizarre, unexplainable ways in his 50s, and now, at 71, can no longer speak, write, read or walk. This paper reviews that article and reports on recommended caregiving strategies for patients with dementia.
A Rare Form of Dementia Tests a Vow of "For Better, for Worse"
Michael French began acting a little weird when he was in his 50s, about ten years before he was diagnosed with the rare form of dementia noted in the introduction, according to his wife Ruth. This was totally out of character because Michael had run marathons, lectured at conventions, did volunteer work, and he had joined a book club focusing on history subjects. But when he began changing jobs a lot, Ruth just figured he was going through a phase because he had a "stubborn personality," not that anything was particularly wrong with...
Bosses that Michael worked for were frustrated with his behaviors, and after being fired from several jobs, Michael retired at the age of 66.
No one knew what was wrong with Michael. His wife was so upset with his bizarre behaviors, she thought about divorcing him -- and she actually struck him "a couple times out of frustration" -- Ruth admitted (Grady, p. 3). But she took deep breaths, buckled down and made up her mind she would go through this with him whatever it turned out to be. When the correct diagnosis was provided to the French family, Ruth apologized to him "…for every perceived wrong or misunderstanding" and she cried; "I can't tell you how much I cried…" (Grady, p. 1).
Caregiving for patients with dementia requires a great deal of patience and understanding, according to the Times' story. They are "…hard to care for at home," especially frontotemporal dementia patients that are "…young, strong, and aggressive" because they can become violent (Grady, p. 6). One professor of psychotherapy and mental health counseling quit her position "…at the height of…
Works Cited
Family Caregiver Alliance. (2011). Fact Sheet: Caregiver's Guide to Understanding Dementia
Behaviors. Retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://www.caregiver.org.
Grady, Denise. (2012). When Illness Makes a Spouse a Stranger. The New York Times.
Retrieved May 20, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com.
Mrs. M is a 60-year-old who was diagnosed with early onset dementia and has been experiencing brief moments of memory loss. She has been living with her daughter L. L has been jobless since she completed her undergraduate studies one year ago. Mrs. M does not have any other children. Recently, L got a new job in another state. She is due for relocation in a month�s time. To a
Dementia and Normal Ageing Old age comes with quite a number of complications and change of behavior as well as physical changes. On the other hand, dementia also comes in with several symptoms that are closely related or similar to those displayed by people in old age. This makes it quite tricky for the family members of an ageing individual to tell whether the person is undergoing normal ageing or has
Huntington's disease affects families What is Huntington's disease, and how does it affect the patient and his family? How does one deal with the patient? Is there any cure for the disease, and what is it? When was the disease discovered? Who discovered it, and how was it discovered? What way is support offered from external sources for the disease, and how can one avail of the support? What, exactly
Identify Distinctions Among MCU, Dementia, and Alzheimer's 1. Topic · Distinctions Among MCU, Dementia, and Alzheimer's 2. Information about medical conditions you are addressing Dementia: Dementia is a syndrome characterized by diminished cognitive abilities, memory loss, and reduced thinking capacity. Dementia-related symptoms affect the day-to-day activities of the victim. Alzheimer's, a condition that causes brain cells to degenerate, is the leading cause of dementia. A slow decline of memory destroys thinking skills, and it
Cognitive Disorder in Elderly Cognitive Disorders in Elderly Sachiko Furuya Cognitive Assessment & Lab Kris Thomas, PhD The research of this study is related to cognitive, dementia, Alzheimer disease, and depression issues with the elderly populations of the United States and in the world in general. Societies with a large number of elderly people such as the U.S.A. are increasingly focusing their efforts on improving the life standards of these people based on the types
Examining DementiaAbstractThis paper examines the health issue of dementia. It focuses on its impact on the human nervous system and identifies symptoms, causes, and prevalence both in the United States and globally. Management and treatment strategies are also discussed. The methodology used in this paper consisted of reviewing internet sources, primary literature, and real-life case studies. The results show that dementia has a significant global impact, and that there are