Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example
Alzheimer’s in Older Adults
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a brain ailment that gradually impairs thinking and memory abilities as well as the capacity to do even the most basic tasks. The majority of Alzheimer’s patients experience symptoms later in life. Scientists believe that around 6 million Americans, the majority of whom are 65 years of age or older, may have Alzheimer’s disease, although estimates vary. Alzheimer’s, currently listed as the seventh most prevalent cause of mortality in the US, is the most frequent cause of dementia in older persons (National Institute on Aging, 2023). Even so, the majority of people’s etiology of Alzheimer’s disease remains a mystery to scientists. Age-related alterations in the brain, in addition to genetic, environmental, and lifestyle variables, are most likely the causes. Depending on the individual, each of these characteristics may have varying effects on the likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s disease.(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
Risk Assessment for Treating Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease has no cure, but specific medications and therapies can manage symptoms and slow down the progression of the disease. However, different people react differently to these medications and therapies, stressing the importance of conducting a risk assessment to ensure a medication has optimal health outcomes. For the risk assessment, it is essential to consider the type of Alzheimer’s disease and whether the medication is suitable for this type. It is also vital to consider the likelihood of side effects and ensure the benefits outweigh the risks. The practitioner should also determine or inquire about any other health condition or current treatment to determine the potential for drug interactions, which can be detrimental to the patient.(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
FDA-Approved Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease
The only medication that the FDA has licensed to treat symptoms associated with moderate to severe stages of AD is memantine (Namenda). Memantine functions by lowering the brain’s concentration of the neurotransmitter glutamate (McShane et al., 2019). It can be used with a cholinesterase inhibitor or without one. Memantine may cause headaches and dizziness as side effects. Other side effects might include constipation and shortness of breath. Patients should be monitored for agitation and other CNS events.(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
Off-label Medication for Alzheimer’s Disease
Combining quetiapine and sodium valproate is a more efficient and appropriate treatment for AD. Few evidence sources are available regarding the effectiveness of this combination. However, in a study conducted to assess the effectiveness of this combination, the experimental group’s mental behavior dropped from 8.2 prior treatment to 0.5, whereas the control group’s reduced from 7.1 prior treatment to 2.6 (Zhang et al., 2022). It is evident that the experimental group’s scores changed following their administration of sodium valproate and quetiapine, suggesting that the combination was effective. However, quetiapine can lead to thinking disorientation, drowsiness, struggling to control body movements, or vision impairment, which may contribute to falls, fractures, and other injuries. (Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
Psychotherapy
Cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) is used in people with Alzheimer’s disease. CST is a short group treatment founded on the theoretical ideas of reality orientation and cognitive stimulation for those with mild-to-moderate dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (Gonzalez-Moreno et al., 2022). It takes seven weeks and fourteen sessions of themed activities, usually held twice a week. When comparing CST to no treatment, there were significant improvements in participant-rated quality of life and cognition in a multicenter randomized controlled experiment. These improvements in cognitive function were on par with those obtained from medicine, and CST turned out to be affordable.(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
Clinical Practice Guidelines for Treating Alzheimer’s Disease
Clinical practice guidelines for treating Alzheimer’s disease exist. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence’s (NICE) most recent guidelines exclusively suggested cognitive stimulation as a treatment for AD-associated dementia’s cognitive symptoms (NICE, 2019). Per the NICE, the CST has proven effective in enhancing memory, confidence, and self-esteem. (Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
References
Gonzalez-Moreno, J., Satorres, E., Soria-Urios, G., & Meléndez, J. C. (2022). Cognitive Stimulation in Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society, 41(8), 1934–1941. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648221089283(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
McShane, R., Westby, M. J., Roberts, E., Minakaran, N., Schneider, L., Farrimond, L. E., Maayan, N., Ware, J., & Debarros, J. (2019). Memantine for dementia. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 3(3), CD003154. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003154.pub6(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
National Institute on Aging. (2023, April 5). Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet. National Institute on Aging. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
NICE. (2019). Running Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) Groups as Part of Core Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) Work. NICE. https://www.nice.org.uk/sharedlearning/running-cognitive-stimulation-therapy-cst-groups-as-part-of-core-community-mental-health-team-cmht-work(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
Zhang, Z., Xu, J., Xu, P., Liu, W., He, X., & Fu, K. (2022). Quetiapine Combined with Sodium Valproate in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease with Mental and Behavioral Symptoms Efficacy Observation. Journal of healthcare engineering, 2022, 1278092. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/1278092 (Retraction published J Healthc Eng. 2023 Oct 4;2023:9860560)(Prescribing for Older Adults and Pregnant Women Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)
