Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that leads to behavior, memory and thinking problems. Front temporal Dementia is a group of conditions that affect the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. This paper will illustrate the sharing and application of evidence to practice.
In a pilot study done by Velayutham et.al, it was found out that falls which sometimes are caused by gait and balancer are common causes of morbidity in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Front temporal Dementia (FTD) and there is subclinical involvement of gait and balance in these patients especially during divided attention. Balance and gait is normal in ageing as well as patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Front temporal Dementia but it affects more patients with AD and FTD (Velayutham et al., 2017).
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In the pilot study it was also found out that gait and balance problems occur in AD due to dorsal pathway dysfunction and in FTD it is due to the frontal-subcortial circuits breaking down. Older people with cognitive dysfunction are vulnerable to gait and balance problems resulting in repeated falls because of associated multiaxial dysfunction involving cognition but also joints, ligaments , tendons, vision and hearing (Velayutham et al., 2017).
In the study there is evidence of abnormal equilibrium in AD and motor dysfunction in FTD. In AD, the nurse should assess the patients’ equilibrium using the following parametric measurements; single leg stance (SLS) and Tandem walking (TW). Coordination of limbs is assessed with parametric measurement of foot tapping (FT), alternating pronation and supination (PS) and sequential finger to thumb tapping (FTH). History of fall should also be captured from family member or family friend.
In FTD, there is assessment of motor neuron disease (MND) in relation to behavior and personality change for example someone behaves in a socially inappropriate way. Patients should be observed for behaviors like overeating, not concentrating when being talked to and others.
References
Velayutham, S. G., Chandra, S. R., Bharath, S., & Shankar, R. G. (2017). Quantitative balance
and gait measurement in patients with frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer diseases: A pilot study. Indian journal of psychological medicine , 39 (2), 176.
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