Dementia is a disorder of intellectual function without any functional impairment or condition occurring. Memory, general knowledge, abstract thinking, judgment, and interpretation of written and spoken communication may be impaired. Dementia is a syndrome characterized by various cognitive function disorders, including; intelligence, learning and memory, language, problem solving, orientation, perception of attention and concentration, adjustment and social skills. (Corwin, 2009)
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive degenerative brain disease, which kills brain cells resulting in decreased memory, thinking abilities, and behavioral changes. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with clinical characteristics and typical pathology, varying in onset, age, variety of features of cognitive impairment, and rate of deterioration. Alzheimer's disease discovered by a neurologist from Germany named Dr. Alois Alzheimer, in 1906, 60% of this disease causes senility or dementia and is expected to continue to increase, even predicted growth will be faster than the speed of population growth over the age of 65 years.
Causes of dementia according to Nugraho (2009):
1) Dementia syndrome with a disease whose underlying etiology is not known to be abnormal, namely: present at the subcellular level or biochemically in the enzyme system, or in metabolism.
2) Dementia syndrome with known etiology, but not yet treatable, the main causes in this group include: Spinocerebellar degeneration disease. a). Subacute sclerosing leukoencephalitis; van Bogaert and b) Huntington's Chorea.
3) Dementia syndrome with treatable etiology, in this group include: a). Cerrebro-cardiovascular disease and b) Alzheimer's disease.
Clinical symptoms of dementia last for a long time and gradually so that patients with families do not realize exactly when the disease occurs. According to Nugroho (2009), the clinical symptoms of dementia are:
1) Decreased memory that occurs continuously. In people with dementia, forgetting to be a part of everyday life that can not be separated.
2) Disturbance in orientation to time and place, for example: forgetting the day, week, month, year, where people with dementia are.
3) Decrease and inability to compose words into correct sentences, use inappropriate words for a condition, repeat the same word or story many times.
4) Excessive expression, for example; crying excessively when watching a television drama, getting angry at small mistakes made by others, unreasonable fear and nervousness.
5) People with dementia sometimes do not understand why these feelings arise.
6) There is a change in behavior, such as: indifferent, withdrawn and restless.
Things we can do to reduce the risk of dementia, including; maintain sharp memory and always optimize brain function, such as:
1) Prevent the entry of substances that can damage brain cells.
2) Reading books that stimulate the brain to think should be done every day.
3) Doing activities that can make us mentally healthy and active, such as spiritual activities & deepening religious knowledge.
4) Keep interacting with the environment, hanging out with friends who have the same interests or hobbies.
5) Reducing stress at work and trying to stay relaxed in daily life can keep our brain healthy.
Nursing Diagnosis is a conclusion drawn from data collected about the elderly, which serves as a tool to describe the problems of the elderly, and drawing these conclusions can be assisted by nurses. Nursing diagnosis is the second stage of nursing process after the nursing assessment.
Nursing diagnosis is "Clinical Judgment" which focuses on the human response to health conditions or life processes or vulnerabilities in individuals, families, groups or communities. Nursing diagnoses that can appear in patients with dementia include; Disturbed Thought Process, Impaired Verbal Communication, Risk for Falls, and Self-Care Deficit : bath. According to (Nugroho 2009).
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