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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Family, Life Course, and Society

Selected Works

Cognition

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Driving And Patients With Dementia, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, K. Whalen, J. Culp Aug 2018

Driving And Patients With Dementia, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, K. Whalen, J. Culp

Amber E. Kinser

Driving is a symbol of autonomy and independence, eagerly awaited during adolescence, cherished during adulthood and reluctantly rescinded during old age. It is nevertheless an individual’s privilege, not right, especially as driving may affect other drivers and pedestrians on the road. It is therefore not only the individual patient who is at stake but essentially the entire community. In this case scenario, we describe the situation that arose when a patient with multi-infarct dementia wanted to go for a drive and his son and grandson tried to convince him that he could no longer drive. What went wrong in the …


Patients With Dementia Are Easily Distracted, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Audrey Depelteau, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, J. V. Lewis, Kathleen Whalen Aug 2018

Patients With Dementia Are Easily Distracted, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Audrey Depelteau, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, J. V. Lewis, Kathleen Whalen

Amber E. Kinser

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the middle ground between normal, age-appropriate memory impairment, and dementia. Whereas patients with MCI are able to cope with the memory deficit, those with dementia are not: Their memory impairment and other cognitive deficits are of sufficient magnitude to interfere with the patients’ ability to cope independently with daily activities. In both MCI and dementia, there is evidence of declining cognitive functions from a previously higher level of functioning. In both the conditions, there is also an evidence of dysfunction in one or more cognitive domains. There are two subtypes of MCI depending on whether …


Fronto-Temporal Dementia, Diabetes Mellitus And Excessive Eating, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Kara Dickerson, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Kathleen Whalen Aug 2018

Fronto-Temporal Dementia, Diabetes Mellitus And Excessive Eating, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Kara Dickerson, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Kathleen Whalen

Amber E. Kinser

Diabetes mellitus is common among older people. Hypoglycemia is a sign of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and may lead to irritability, agitation, anxiety, hunger, and an excessive food intake, which in turn may make the control of diabetes more difficult. Excessive, inappropriate food intake is also a sign of Fronto-Temporal Dementia (behavioral variant: bvFTD). In this case study, we describe the events leading to an altercation that developed between an older diabetic patient with bvFTD and the staff in an Assisted Living Facility. His first dose of insulin was given early that morning while he was still asleep. He, subsequently, …


Impulsive, Disinhibited Behavior—Dining In A Restaurant, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Kathleen Whalen Aug 2018

Impulsive, Disinhibited Behavior—Dining In A Restaurant, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Kathleen Whalen

Amber E. Kinser

Dining in a restaurant with a loved one who has dementia can be an ordeal, especially if the expectations of the caregiver do not match those of the patient and the restaurant environment is not suitable for patients with dementia. The size of the dining area, lighting, background music or noise, décor of the room, number of customers, variety of the items on the menu, number of plates and cutlery on the table, in addition to flowers, candles, and other decorations on the table are all potent distractors. There are so many stimuli; the patient can be overwhelmed with information …


Insomnia And Mild Cognitive Impairment, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Kara Dickerson, C Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Rebecca Copeland, Kathleen Whalen Aug 2018

Insomnia And Mild Cognitive Impairment, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Kara Dickerson, C Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Rebecca Copeland, Kathleen Whalen

Amber E. Kinser

Insomnia is a common problem in older people, especially in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) whose circadian rhythm is often compromised. Insomnia exerts such a toll on caregivers that it is frequently the primary reason for seeking to institutionalize their loved ones. Three different types of insomnia are recognized: sleep-onset or initial insomnia, sleep maintenance or middle insomnia, and early morning awakening or late insomnia. Nocturnal hypoglycemia, as a cause of middle insomnia, is the main focus of this case study. Other types of insomnia are also briefly reviewed. The management of insomnia is then discussed including sleep hygiene, …


Agnosia Interferes With Daily Hygiene In Patients With Dementia, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Jennifer E. Culp, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Rebecca Copeland, Kathleen Whalen Aug 2018

Agnosia Interferes With Daily Hygiene In Patients With Dementia, Ronald C. Hamdy, Amber Kinser, Jennifer E. Culp, Tracey Kendall-Wilson, Audrey Depelteau, Rebecca Copeland, Kathleen Whalen

Amber E. Kinser

Patients with dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, may not recognize that their clothes are dirty. They may see the food stains and discoloration of the clothes and yet because of their agnosia are unable to integrate these observations and deduce that their clothes are dirty and need to be changed. They will, therefore, resist attempts to get them to change clothes, especially if these clothes happen to be their favorite ones. This often causes caregivers to become frustrated, especially, if it represents a change in the patient’s previous habits of only wearing clean clothes. In this case study, we present a …