Running head: MR. M CASE STUDY 1

Mr. M Case Study

Student’s Name:

Institutional Affiliation:

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Mr. M Case Study

This paper highlights the clinical manifestations, primary and secondary medical

diagnoses, expected abnormalities, physical, psychological, and emotional effects, and

interventions to support Alzheimer's patients and their families.

Mr. M’s Clinical Manifestations

From the test results of Mr. M, it is clear that most of his results appear normal, ruling out

numerous conditions that he might be suffering from. From the objective data, it is therefore

evident that MR. M has normal temperatures, average blood pressure considering he suffers from

hypertension, feeling no pain in his body, and has an ideal BMI. His blood and urinalysis results

also show that he has no notable conditions which might be affecting him. However the clinical

manifestations of Mr. M which include memory loss which makes him a have trouble

remembering names of family members, room numbers, and recalling what he reads; being

agitated and aggressive; wandering off and getting lost, not being able to perform activities of

daily living such as bathing, feeding himself and dressing himself therefore indicate that he

might be suffering for a mental degradation condition (Weller & Budson, 2018). From the

clinical manifestations suffered by Mr. M, he, therefore, seems to be suffering from Alzheimer's

disease.

Primary and Secondary Medical Diagnoses for Mr. M

The primary diagnosis which should be considered for Mr. M would include evaluating the

reports from the health facility workers of where Mr. M is admitted and also asking Mr. M to

describe his condition. For Alzheimer’s disease, tests would need to be administered to assess

MR. M’s thinking and memory skills (Bondi, Edmonds, & Salmon, 2017). Primary diagnoses

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would also include physical and neurological examination on Mr. M, such as his reflexes, sense

of sight and hearing, balance, coordination, muscle tone, and strength, among others. Such tests

would be ideal for assessing the overall neurological health of Mr. M.

On the other hand, the secondary medical diagnoses, which would be considered

as a result of the clinical manifestations exhibited by Mr. M, would include laboratory tests

mental status and neuropsychological testing and brain imaging. Laboratory tests would include

blood tests and urinalysis, which would help rule out other potential causes of confusion and

memory loss, such as vitamin deficiencies and thyroid disorders (Ulep, Saraon, & McLea, 2018).

Neuropsychological testing and mental status examination would help in the administration of

longer forms testing of the patient’s mental function compared to other people of similar

education levels and age. Such tests would be ideal in establishing a baseline in the tracking of

the progression of the symptoms subsequently. Finally, brain imaging, which includes MRI and

CT scan, would be a form of secondary diagnosis which would be used to pinpoint abnormalities

in Mr. M's brain, which might be related to conditions such as trauma, tumors, strokes, and

which might cause cognitive changes. The ruling out of such abnormalities would confirm the

diagnosis that Mr. M has Alzheimer's (Crous-Bou et al., 2017).

Expected Abnormalities When Performing Nursing Assessment

After performing the MRI and CT scans, the abnormalities I would expect to find in the

Alzheimer’s patient's brain would be the presence of Beta-amyloid deposits, which would

accumulate as the patient’s cells would not have the ability to remove it. Other abnormalities

would include increased levels of tau, availability of senile or neurotic plaques, and

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Neurofibrillary tangles. All these would be as a result of the degeneration of the patient’s brains

and the damage in the nerve cells (Scales, Zimmerman, & Miller, 2018).

Physical, Psychological, and Emotional Effects Mr. M.'s Alzheimer’s

Mr. M.'s Alzheimer's will have profound, psychological, and emotional effects on him and

his family. These will include becoming socially withdrawn, being depressed, being irritable and

aggressive, disturbing others, being apathetic, having mood swings, and having delusions. By

being depressed, patients such as Mr. M will not be motivated to carry on their life and day -to-

day activities. As such, patients may not be willing to socialize and may become withdrawn and

apathetic (Ulep et al., 2018). Alzheimer’s patients such as Mr. M may also strain to relate with

close family members and friends mainly because they will be more irritable and aggressive

which may make their family feel threatened, have mood swings, and occasionally lash out at

family members and also have a distrust of their family members which may offend them. In the

treatment and the management of Alzheimer’s, it is therefore important for family members of

the patients to be included in the treatment and be advised on how to manage such patients to

mitigate the emotional and psychological effects of the condition (Scales et al., 2018).

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Interventions to Support Mr. M and his Family

The most ideals intervention to support Mr. M and his family would be the administration

of Alzheimer’s drugs and counseling the family to help create a safe and supportive environment

for him. Alzheimer’s medications such as cholinesterase inhibitors and Memantine would help

mitigate the memory loss symptoms cognitive changes (Weller & Budson, 2018).

Actual/ Potential Problems Mr. Faces

As a result of having Alzheimer’s, Mr. M faces numerous potential or actual problems,

including thinking and reasoning, performing familiar tasks and planning, changes in personality

and behavior, and memory loss. As a result of memory loss and lapses, Mr. M may frequently

get lost in familiar places and routinely misplace his possessions. He may also have difficulty

thinking and concentrating due to thinking and reasoning problems. He may also find it hard to

perform familiar tasks such as dressing and bathing. Finally, Alzheimer’s may also change Mr.

M’s personality, making him depressed, aggressive, apathetic, and socially withdrawn, among

other characteristics that would make him lose the connection with family and friends (Perel,

2018).

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References

Bondi, M. W., Edmonds, E. C., & Salmon, D. P. (2017). Alzheimer's Disease: Past, Present, and

Future. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society: JINS, 23(9-10), 818–

831. DOI:10.1017/S135561771700100X.

Crous-Bou, M., Minguillón, C., Gramunt, N. et al. (2017).Alzheimer’s disease prevention: from

risk factors to early intervention. Alz Res Therapy 9, 71. DOI:10.1186/s13195-017-0297-z.

Perel, V. D. (2018). Psychosocial Impact of Alzheimer Disease. JAMA, 279(13),

1038. doi:10.1001/jama.279.13.1038-jms0401-5-1.

Scales, K., Zimmerman, S., & Miller, S. J. (2018). Evidence-Based Nonpharmacological

Practices to Address Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia. The

Gerontologist, 58(suppl_1), S88–S102. DOI:10.1093/geront/gnx167 .

Ulep, M. G., Saraon, S. K., & McLea, S. (2018). Alzheimer Disease. The Journal for Nurse

Practitioners, 14(3), 129–135. DOI:10.1016/j.nurpra.2017.10.014 .

Weller, J., & Budson, A. (2018). Current understanding of Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and

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treatment. F1000Research, 7, F1000 Faculty Rev-1161.

DOI:10.12688/f1000research.14506.1.