Memory And Language Deficits in Alzheimer’s Disease

August 14, 2007

Consider these words dinosaur, avocado, tequila. We’ll come back to them later. Alzheimer’s disease is often described by professionals as a disorder of memory and cognition (thought processes). Indeed, memory loss is usually the first symptom that the individual or the spouse notices and brings to the attention of the family physician. Difficulty recalling names of familiar places and objects is commonly reported, as well as problems remembering where objects were placed. Other language problems, related to vocabulary, can also appear early, and are virtually inevitable as the disease progresses .

A number of assessment scales are now available, both for more thorough diagnosis and for plotting the severity of the disease. Thomas Hutton and his colleagues have developed the Functional Rating Scale, which assesses a variety of everyday behaviors including eating, dressing, speech, memory, degree of confusion, orientation, emotionality, social responsiveness, and sleep patterns. Barry Reisberg has developed Functional Assessment Stages (FAST), and there is a Record of Independent Living (RIL) scale to assess day-to-day functional competence. In recent research, a strong relationship has been found between these functional scales and clinical scales such as the Dementia Rating, Scale and the Global Deterioration Scale. These scales are also useful for plotting and predicting stages of functional decline in patients in long term care settings.

For example, the mild cognitive decline stage in the Global Deterioration Scale, developed by Barry Reisberg and colleagues, is characterized by a level of impaired functioning noticeable to co-workers and difficulty traveling to new places. In the moderate decline or late confusional stage, individuals will often fail in attempting to carry out relatively complex takes such as planning meals and handling their finances. Individuals in the moderately severe stage require assistance in choosing proper clothing, while those in the severe stage have trouble just putting their clothes on. the very late stages of the disease, patients lose all memory and language abilities (including recollection of their spouse’s name), basic motor skills (such as walking), and bladder control. Since memory and language function are nonexistent in the late stages of dementia, the remainder of will focus on the mild to moderate stages.

Posted in Alzheimer's Disease Disorder