There are four important things to pay attention to in the daily life of patients with
Alzheimer’s disease, which should be understood by both patients and their families or caregivers.
First of all, we know that patients with Alzheimer’s disease often have mental, behavioral and emotional abnormalities in the middle and late stages of the disease, such as naivety, irritability, repeated removal of items or packing of clothes, constant walking, following caregivers, and asking to go out at night. For patients who often have these symptoms, respect should be given to ensure that the room is quiet, interesting activities can be arranged, and the attention of patients can be properly distracted, such as listening to relaxed and soothing music. Patients should not be forced to do things that they are unwilling or beyond their ability, and caregivers should maintain good patience and state. Patients should be patient and careful, speak more caring language, persuade patients to increase activities and encourage more! If the patient has aggressive behavior, we should analyze the specific causes of aggressive behavior, whether the patient has physical discomfort, such as joint pain caused by gout, or whether there is a cold, headache, toothache, abdominal pain, etc., and recommend timely medical treatment, do not recommend violent uniforms or separate locks in the room, to avoid the patient’s own and others. If the symptoms can not be controlled by simple non-drug treatment, drug treatment against psychiatric symptoms can be given. Some patients may have hallucinations, delusions, family members should understand that it is caused by the disease, to be tolerant, give love, treat patients with a sincere attitude, listen to patients patiently, and try to meet their reasonable requirements. Some events that can not be satisfied should be explained patiently, and speech acts that hurt feelings or damage patients’self-esteem should not be used to cause psychological harm, depression and even aggressive behavior. If these symptoms of patients have little impact on their lives, they can strengthen care and close observation. Once the symptoms affect the personal safety of patients or others, they need to go to the specialist in time. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease have different degrees of language dysfunction, which can be manifested as reduced language and repeated language. Caregivers take the initiative to communicate with patients, and if conditions permit, they can train patients in language, such as using cards and pictures with words and phrases. In the process of care, patients should repeatedly say the name of the object to strengthen their memory. Encourage patients to read books, read newspapers, listen to the radio, watch TV, and accept various stimuli from the outside world, which plays an important role in preventing further intellectual decline. Attention should be paid to the moderate use of the brain. After working for a period of time, patients should be advised to go outdoors and change the excitation center.
Secondly, Alzheimer’s patients may suffer from many concomitant diseases at the same time, need to take a variety of drugs, and patients often forget to take medicine, take the wrong medicine, if negligent, may cause missed, less, overdose, or even poisoning. Therefore, all oral medications must be delivered by the caregiver at a rapid rate and not placed next to the patient. In the process of taking medicine, patients must have the help of caregivers to avoid forgetting or taking it by mistake. In the case of frequent refusal to take medicine, in addition to supervising the patient to take the medicine, the patient should also open his mouth to check whether the medicine has been swallowed, so as to prevent the patient from spitting out or taking out the medicine unattended. For patients with moderate and severe dementia who often can not complain about their discomfort after taking medicine, we should carefully observe the reaction of patients after taking medicine, and timely feedback to doctors, so as to adjust the medication plan in time. For patients with Alzheimer’s disease who are bedridden and have difficulty swallowing, it is not appropriate to swallow tablets. It is better to break the tablets into small pieces or grind them into pieces and dissolve them in soup.
Third, in terms of safety care, the specific aspects to be considered include: 1. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease who suffer from falls will have symptoms of decreased attention and visual space disorders, and in the late stage, they will also have decreased motor function, so they are prone to falls. Old people have osteoporosis, and once they fall, they are prone to fracture. Therefore, rooms, toilets and other floors should be kept dry and free of water, and patients must be accompanied and supported when they go out for a walk. 2. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease are prone to disorientation due to impaired memory function and visual space disorders, especially those with moderate and severe dementia. They should avoid going out alone to prevent getting lost. At the same time, family members should place signs indicating identity and telephone number on the patient, such as “business card” in the pocket, indicating the patient’s name, disease, home address, contact telephone number, etc.
Fourth, in terms of dietary health management: Alzheimer’s patients should choose nutritious, light and delicious food, pay attention to the combination of meat and vegetables, and the food should be moderate in temperature, thornless, boneless and easy to digest. Focus on variety diversification, mainly light, low-sugar, low-fat, low-salt, high-protein, cellulose-rich foods, such as vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, lean meat, fish, milk and eggs, bean products. Cereals can ensure the source of cellulose for the elderly, and eating more coarse grains can prevent constipation. Senile dementia patients should eat less sugar, fried, fried food, and animal viscera and other high cholesterol food, can not eat stimulating food, avoid smoking, alcohol, coffee, strong tea. Some patients with Alzheimer’s disease have dysphagia, easy to choke into the trachea when eating, solid food is easy to block, so meals should be semi-liquid or soft food. When eating should be slow, do not urge, each time after swallowing, let the patient repeatedly do several empty pharynx exercises to ensure that all food is swallowed, in order to prevent choking and choking. For a small number of patients with hyperphagia and overeating, food intake should be limited appropriately to prevent vomiting and diarrhea due to metabolic syndrome or indigestion and malabsorption. Patients who have some difficulty in swallowing must be attended to when eating, so as not to choke into the trachea and cause asphyxia or death. If necessary, gastric tube can be indwelled, three meals a day should be regular and quantitative, and the patient’s usual eating habits should be maintained as far as possible. These patients must pay attention to nutritional status and regular assessment to avoid the weakness caused by malnutrition and aggravate the patient’s condition. How can Alzheimer’s patients supplement nutrients such as unsaturated fatty acids or deep-sea fish oil? Although the deficiency of a single nutrient may be associated with the change of cognitive function in AD, it is not recommended to supplement or restrict a nutrient or its compound alone to improve cognitive function or prevent the occurrence and development of AD. Therefore, in the case of balanced diet and good nutritional assessment, there is no need to add nutrients.
Finally, we should pay attention to the complications of Alzheimer’s disease, such as the high incidence of pneumonia in the middle and late stages, and many dementia patients died of pneumonia. Especially bedridden patients are more likely to suffer from pneumonia when their functions decline in all aspects of the body, malnutrition, incontinence and bedsores occur. Therefore, we should try our best to avoid the occurrence of the above situation, and once complicated with infection, we should treat it in time. Secondly, pressure sores should be prevented. The so-called pressure sore refers to the necrosis of skin and subcutaneous tissue due to local blood circulation disorders. To prevent the occurrence of pressure sores, for bedridden patients, every 2-3 hours to change a body position, pay attention to observe the skin, keep the skin clean. Attention should be paid not to use alcohol or disinfectant to wash, but to wash with warm water. Cotton pads, pillows and foam cushions can be used to cushion the buttocks, heels and other parts prone to pressure sores. At present, there is no radical cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but nursing intervention can greatly improve the quality of life of patients. Caregivers should pay more love, patience, care and perseverance, and also need caregivers to correctly understand the characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease, take a positive attitude, so that Alzheimer’s patients can live in an environment full of affection and care, to avoid discrimination and abuse of the elderly.
Senile dementia (Alzheimer disease)
