Case Assignment: Alzheimer’s Disease

Case Assignment: Alzheimer’s Disease

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Alzheimer’s Disease 76-year-old Iranian Male

76-year-old Iranian Male

BACKGROUND

Mr. Akkad is a 76 year old Iranian male who is brought to your office by his eldest son for “strange behavior.” Mr. Akkad was seen by his family physician who ruled out any organic basis for Mr. Akkad’s behavior. All laboratory and diagnostic imaging tests (including CT-scan of the head) were normal.

According to his son, he has been demonstrating some strange thoughts and behaviors for the past two years, but things seem to be getting worse. Per the client’s son, the family noticed that Mr. Akkad’s personality began to change a few years ago. He began to lose interest in religious activities with the family and became more “critical” of everyone. They also noticed that things he used to take seriously had become a source of “amusement” and “ridicule.”

Over the course of the past two years, the family has noticed that Mr. Akkad has been forgetting things. His son also reports that sometimes he has difficult “finding the right words” in a conversation and then will shift to an entirely different line of conversation.

SUBJECTIVE

During the clinical interview, Mr. Akkad is pleasant, cooperative and seems to enjoy speaking with you. You notice some confabulation during various aspects of memory testing, so the PMHNP performs a Mini-Mental State Exam. Mr. Akkad scores 18 out of 30 with primary deficits in orientation, registration, attention & calculation, and recall. The score suggests moderate dementia.

MENTAL STATUS EXAM

Mr. Akkad is 76 year old Iranian male who is cooperative with today’s clinical interview. His eye contact is poor. Speech is clear, coherent, but tangential at times. He makes no unusual motor movements and demonstrates no tic. Self-reported mood is euthymic. Affect however is restricted. He denies visual or auditory hallucinations. No delusional or paranoid thought processes noted. He is alert and oriented to person, partially oriented to place, but is disoriented to time and event [he reports that he thought he was coming to lunch but “wound up here”- referring to your office, at which point he begins to laugh]. Insight and judgment are impaired. Impulse control is also impaired as evidenced by Mr. Akkad’s standing up during the clinical interview and walking towards the door. When the PMHNP asked where he was going, he stated that he did not know. Mr. Akkad denies suicidal or homicidal ideation.

Case Assignment: Alzheimer’s Disease

Case Assignment: Alzheimer’s Disease

Diagnosis: Major neurocognitive disorder due to Alzheimer’s disease (presumptive)

RESOURCES

§ Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (2002). Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Decision Point One

Select what the PMHNP should do:

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-red.pngBegin Exelon (rivastigmine) 1.5 mg orally BID with an increase to 3 mg orally BID in 2 weeks

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-blue.png Begin Aricept (donepezil) 5 mg orally at BEDTIME

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-yellow.pngBegin Razadyne (galantamine) 4 mg orally BID

Decision Point One

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-blue.pngBegin Aricept (donepezil) 5 mg orally at BEDTIME

RESULTS OF DECISION POINT ONE

· Client returns to clinic in four weeks

· The client is accompanied by his son who reports that his father is “no better” from this medication

· He reports that his father is still disinterested in attending religious services/activities, and continues to exhibit disinhibited behaviors

· You continue to note confabulation and decide to administer the MMSE again. Mr. Akkad again scores 18 out of 30 with primary deficits in orientation, registration, attention & calculation, and recall

Decision Point Two

Select what the PMHNP should do next:

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-red.pngIncrease Aricept to 10 mg orally at BEDTIME

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-blue.pngDiscontinue Aricept and begin Razadyne (galantamine) extended release 24 mg orally daily

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-yellow.pngDiscontinue Aricept and begin Namenda (memantine) extended release, 28 mg orally daily

Decision Point Two https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-red.pngIncrease Aricept to 10 mg orally at BEDTIME

RESULTS OF DECISION POINT TWO

· Client returns to clinic in four weeks

· Client’s son reports that the client is tolerating the medication well, but is still concerned that his father is no better

· He states that his father is attending religious services with the family, which the son and the rest of the family is happy about. He reports that his father is still easily amused by things he once found serious

Decision Point Three

Select what the PMHNP should do next:

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-red.pngContinue Aricept 10 mg orally at BEDTIME

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-blue.pngIncrease Aricept to 15 mg orally at BEDTIME x 6 weeks, then increase to 20 mg orally at BEDTIME

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-yellow.pngDiscontinue Aricept and begin Namenda 5 mg orally daily

Decision Point Three

https://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/NURS/6630/10/mm/alzheimers_disease/img/pill-red.pngContinue Aricept 10 mg orally at BEDTIME

Guidance to Student

At this point, it would be prudent for the PMHNP to continue Aricept at 10 mg orally at bedtime. Recall that this medication can take several months before stabilization of deterioration is noted. At this point, the client is attending religious services with the family, which has made the family happy. Disinhibition may improve in a few weeks, or it may not improve at all. This is a counseling point that the PMHNP should review with the son.

There is no evidence that Aricept given at doses greater than 10 mg per day has any therapeutic benefit. It can, however, cause side effects. Increasing to 15 and 20 mg per day would not be appropriate.

There is nothing in the clinical presentation to suggest that the Aricept should be discontinued. Whereas it may be appropriate to add Namenda to the current drug profile, there is no need to discontinue Aricept. In fact, NMDA receptor antagonist therapy is often used with cholinesterase inhibitors in combination therapy to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The key to using both medications is slow titration upward toward therapeutic doses to minimize negative side effects.

Finally, it is important to note that changes in the MMSE should be evaluated over the course of months, not weeks. The absence of change in the MMSE after 4 weeks of treatment should not be a source of concern.

Case Assignment: Alzheimer’s Disease

Case Assignment: Alzheimer’s Disease

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.