Pain and Alzheimer Dementia: A Largely Unrecognized Problem
Pain and Alzheimer Dementia: A Largely Unrecognized Problem
The topic “Pain and Alzheimer Dementia: A largely Unrecognized Problem” tries to identify the problem that affects patients as AD progresses. The Ad makes patients ability to verbalize their pain to declining, making it difficult for doctors to treat the patients who could be in severe pain. Studies show that AD is a brain condition that affects particularly the part that controls the speech. The article, “Pain and Alzheimer dementia: A largely unrecognized problem” by Mary Curran and Carson describes the topic in an expansive and elaborate way. The article explains that as AD progresses for patients who are suffering from the condition, communication deteriorates and they become unable to verbalize their pain. The article further explains that the pain or discomfort is unnoticed depending on the different types of AD that the patients could be suffering from. The articles an example of arthritis, a type of AD which the article indicates is common among individuals who are 65 years old and above. The article further reveals that reports indicate that 50 percent of those who are diagnosed with arthritis AD, they experience functional decline when they are in older patients. The article explains that the changes in behavioral patterns of the older people, especially those who are in hands of caretakers, can undergo tremendous pain when the caretakers are unaware of their painful conditions. The article explains that some could be experiencing pain in their joints or significant arthritis pain that could spread to the rest of the body. The article show that when the caretakers attempt to transfer patients with AD who could be suffering from arthritis, they can only express that they are in pain by reacting physically or verbally. For instance, the patients can exhibit behavioral patterns such as aggression or acting violently and socially inappropriate. Moreover, patients with AD who could be suffering from could also respond to pain by crying, but more often, refusing care and refusing to eat.
Most caregivers who live with those with AD at homes experience some challenges. However, the article explains that most caregivers, families and nurses lack adequate skills required to manage their behavioral and psychological symptoms; leading to unmanaged pain. The article recommends the caregivers to be paying close attention to major behavioral symptoms such as biting, crying kicking and hitting. Since communication deteriorates for AD patients, the article stresses that identifying these signs can help reduce the unmanaged pain.
The title of the article fits the topic of discussion. In fact, there is a strong correlation between the meaning of the title and what had been discussed in the article. The title attempts to show that patient with AD experience pain which goes unrecognized due to their inability to communicate; causing a lot of discomfort to them. The article expands the meaning of the title by showing instances such patients refusing to eat because they are unable to verbally express their pain, especially in the joints.
Besides the title, how the article communicates its title can be grouped into five key points which have been explicitly brought out in the discussion. These points include use of evidence, identifying specific category of AD, common characteristic associated with patients with AD, causes of their pain and the appropriate interventions. For example the article relies on a report to show that 50 percent of older patients with AD are found to be having arthritis. The article explains that arthritis patients experience problems when expressing their pain verbally and caregivers can notice their discomfort by checking for behavioral signs such as crying. The article further suggests that the caregivers should manage the unmanaged pain experienced by the AD patients by identifying the aggressive behaviors and providing them with psychological and medical treatment.
I find the article was clearly written because it used clear and understandable language, elaborate examples and had consistent flow of ideas.
References
Curran, M.S., & Carson, V.B. (2015). Pain and Alzheimer dementia: A largely unrecognized problem. Lippincott Nursing Center, 13(1), 17-20