Tricking the Brain for Stroke Survivor

I have read an article written by a young Neurologist.
While working with stroke patients, he discovered that by having them exercise the functioning side of the body in front of a mirror, the brain perceives it as the stroke side that is performing. Go get em tiger.

mk

Forgetting Doesn't Mean Alzheimer's.

It is important to remember the diagnostic criteria,because sometimes people are wrongly labeled as having Dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Forgetting something does not mean a person is developing any kind of dementia. There are many reasons for memory lapses and momentary confusion.
Anyone may forget something, especially when sick, stressed, mildly depressed, tired, distracted, or trying to remember too much. Alzheimer's disease, and dementia in general, are not a part of aging.

Reversible Causes of Dementia-like Symptoms.

HYPOTHERMIA - Low body terperature
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HYPERTHERMIA - High body termerature
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DEHYDRATION - Not enough fluid in the body
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NUTRITIONAL DEFICITS - Inadequate diet
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SENSORY PROBLEMS - Sight and hearing decline normally with age.Vision and hearing impairments can result in behaviors that are symptomatic of dementia by blocking or distorting the person's perception of environmental and interpersonal cues. Eyeglasses (prescription accuracy, fit, and cleanliness) and hearing aids (batteries, cleanliness and fit) should be checked
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ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATIONS - Four common environmental situations that can cause dementia-like symptoms are: relocation, rapid changes in the environment, loss of familiar objects and faces in the environment, and lack in the environment of orienting information such as clocks and calendars.

ALTERED PHYSIOLOGY - This term refers to changes in normal body functions, such as a full bladder, constipation, pain or immobility.

ANEMIA - The oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is reduced.

CHRONIC DISEASES - The brain needs oxygen to function. The kidneys and liver clear the waste products from the blood, the lungs supply oxygen to the blood, and the heart and blood vessels transport the oxygen to the brain. Problems in any of these systems can cause dementia-like symptoms.

DRUGS - Drugs can cause dementia-like symtoms because of side effects and interactions with each other or with alcohol. Moreover, drugs can take longer to work, and remain in the body longer for the elderly than for young people.

DEPRESSION - Depression is the most common emotional disorder of the elderly and serious depression can mimic dementia.

Remember, these conditions and problems are reversible and can unnecessarily reduce the functioning of anyone, including a person with Alzheimer's disease.

The Brain and the Effects of Alzheimer's Disease

Neurons

It has been estimated that the brain has over 100 billion brain cells, a large proportion of which are nerve cells, called neurons. The functions of neurons are to process, send and receive information. A neuron is made up of a cell body (with its nucleus) dendrites (which receive messages from other neurons) and an axon (which sends messages to other neurons). Neurons are highly interconnected, forming the message pathways we need to think and function.




The Brain

The brain is composed of many different structures that work independently and together to supervise the rest of the body. If we think of the body as a large company, the brain is the board of directors.


The Brain Stem

The brain stem is located at the point where the brain and spinal cord are connected. It is important among the brain structures involved in basic physical survival, and participates in the regulation of consciousness. It also signals other brain areas to "get ready" for incoming information. In people with Alzheimer's disease, the brain stem continues to function normally at least until the advanced stages of the disease.

The Cerebellum

The Cerebellum is a large structure attached to the back of the brain stem. It helps maintain and adjust posture and balance, as well as coordinate and refine movement. The cerebellum is not highly affected by Alzheimer's disease.

The Cerebrum

The Cerebrum makes up about 85% of the weight of the human brain. Within the cerebrum are many structures that play a acritical role in normal living.

Cerebral Hemispheres: The brain is divided into two halves called hemispheres. Each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body. while each hemisphere has some uniquely special features, they normally work together, constantly sending messages back-and-forth. Alzheimer's disease effects both hemispheres.

The Cerebral Cortex: The cerebral hemispheres are covered with an intricately folded layer of nerve cells called the cortex. The cortex is about an eighth to a quarter of and inch thick. Among other functions, the cortex makes possible all our higher mental abilities, such as thinking, speaking, and remembering. If the brain is considered the board of directors of our body, the cortex is the chairman of the board. The cortex is one of the brain structures that is greatly affected by Alzheimer's disease.

Lobes of the Cerebrum: Each cerebral hemisphere is divided into four parts: the frontal lobe the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe and the occipital lobe.

The Frontal lobes: The frontal lobe of each hemisphere is located behind the forehead. The frontal lobes oversee much of what the rest of the brain is doing and are important in our ability to plan, make judgments, and carry out purposeful behavior. The frontal lobes are connected with other brain systems which control alertness and emotion.

Alzheimer's disease causes damage to the frontal lobes that results in distinct changes in behavior.

1. Inability to plan or carry out complex action or comprehend a complex idea.
For example, the completion of a sequence of steps may be difficult or impossible for a person with of Alzheimer's disease, even though the individual may be capable of performing each step by itself.

2. Inability to change behavior. Damage to the frontal lobes may also cause an individual to be less able to change a current behavior when a new one is required. He may make more mistakes and may be harder to get along with when placed in a new situation.

3. Inability to focus attention. When the frontal lobes are damaged, individuals may lose the ability to focus their attention, becoming easily distracted and drifting from one task to another without completing any of them.

4. Emotional aspects of frontal lobe damage. Because the frontal lobes are highly interconnected to other brain areas which are important in the control of emotion, people with Alzheimer's disease experience many emotional problems. Apathy, irritibility and suspiciousness are all common features of the disease. Also people with frontal lobe damage may be unable to inhibit or control the expression of urges that are socially inappropriate, such as sexual urges, anger, and hostility. They may also laugh or cry inappropriately.

The Temporal Lobes: The temporal lobes, located behind the temples, interpret the sounds from the environment, both language and non-language. Alzheimer's disease also causes significant damage to these lobes.

Left Temporal Lobe: The left temporal lobe is especially important to communication. Damage to the left temporal lobe may cause loss of ability to understand language in written or oral form. It can also cause difficulty in understanding and remembering lists of words, sentences or complex verbal material. The ability to acquire new verbal learning may be dramatically diminished. Finally, damage to the left temporal lobe may leave the individual unable to perform simple addition and subtraction.

Right Temporal Lobe: The right temporal lobe is specialized for recognition and interpretation of non-language sounds, including environmental sounds, music and rhythm. When the right temporal lobe is damaged, individuals may not be able to recognize what a sound is or what it means.

The right temporal lobe is also important for organizing what we see into meaningful patterns and for remembering things that we see. Individuals with right temporal damage are likely to have spatial disorientation and difficulty recognizing complex visual stimuli. They may also have problems making fine visual discrimination, such as being able to detect the edges of a place mat on a table cloth.

Summary: The temporal lobes are prominently affected by Alzheimer's disease, which is a primary reason communication, memory, and visual-perceptual problems occur.

The Parietal Lobes: The parietal lobes are located above the temporal lobes and behind the frontal lobes. It is in the parietal lobes that sensory information for the enviroment is analyzed. The parietal lobes help us keep track of the placement of our bodies, and how we are positioned in space.

1. Constructional disorders: When damage occurs to the parietal lobes, constructional disorders may occur. Constuctional disorders include difficulty drawing a picture of a clock or assembling a coffee pot correctly.

2. Association cortex: The function of the temporal and parietal lobes includes an area that is called the association cortex, which is significantly affected by Alzheimer's disease. Damage to the association cortex is primarily responsible for impairment of conceptual knowledge and the ability to make inferences.

The Occipital Lobes: The occipital lobes are situated at the back of each hemisphere and are primarily involved in visual perception and association. Of the four lobes, this one is least affected by Alzheimer's disease.

Hippocampus

The hippocampus plays a major role in emotion, behavior, the ability to reason, and the selective storage and retrieval of information. It is responsible for transferring new information to long term memory. A principal basis for problems with reasoning and memory in Alzheimer's disease is damage to the hippocampus.

A Deterioration Scale For Stages of Alzheimers

No Cognitive Decline
Level 1

No subjective complaints of memory deficit. No memory deficit evident on clinical interview.

Very Mild Forgetfulness
Level 2

Subjective complaints of memory deficit, most frequently in following areas,
Forgetting where one has placed familiar objects, forgetting names one formerly knew well. No objective evidence of memory deficit on clinical interview. No subjective deficits in employment or social situations. Appropriate concern with respect to symptomatology.

Mild (Early Confusional)
Level 3

Earliest clear-cut deficits. Manifestations in more than one of the following areas: Patient may have gotten lost when traveling to an unfamiliar location: co-workers become aware of patient’s relatively poor performance: word and name finding deficit becomes evident to intimates: patient : Patient may read passages in a book and retain relatively little material: Patient may demonstrate decreased facility in remembering names upon introduction to new people: Patient may have lost or misplaced an object of value:, Concentration deficit may be evident in clinical testing. Objective evidence of memory deficit obtained only with an intensive interview. Decreased performance in demanding employment and social settings. Denial begins to become manifest in patient. Mild to moderate anxiety accompanies symptoms.

Moderate (Late Confusional)
Level 4

Clear-cut deficit on careful clinical interview. Deficit manifest in following areas: Decreased knowledge of current and recent events: May exhibit some deficit in memory of one’s personal history: Concentration deficit elicited on serial sub-tractions: Decreased ability to travel, handle finances, etc.
Frequently no deficit in following areas: Orientation to time and person: Recognition of familiar persons and faces: Ability to travel to familiar locations. Inability to perform complex tasks. Denial is dominant defense mechanism. Flattening of affect and withdrawal from challenging situations occur.

Moderately severe (Early Dementia)
Level 5

Patient can no longer survive without some assistance. Patient is unable during interview to recall a major relevant aspect of their current lives: e.g., an address or telephone number of many years, the names of close family members (such as grandchildren): The name of the high school or college from which they graduated. Frequently some disorientation to time (date, day of week, season etc.) or to place. An educated person may have difficulty counting back from 40 by 4’s or from 20 by 2’s.
Persons at this stage retain knowledge of many major facts regarding themselves and others. They invariably know their own names and generally know their spouses’ and children’s names. They require no assistance with toileting and eating, but may have some difficulty choosing proper clothing to wear.

Severe (Middle Dementia)
Level 6

May occasionally forgets the name of the spouse upon whom they are entirely dependent for survival. Will be largely unaware of all recent events and experiences in their lives. Retain some knowledge of their past life, but this is very sketchy. Generally unaware of their surroundings, the year, the season, etc. Diurnal rhythm frequently disturbed. (Daytime). Will require some assistance with activities of daily living, e.g., may become incontinent, will require travel assistance but occasionally will Almost always recall their own name. Frequently continue to be able to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar persons in their environment Personality and emotional changes occur. These are quite variable and include: Delusional behavior, e.g., patients may accuse their spouse of being an imposter, may talk to imaginary figures in the environment, or to their own reflection in the mirror. Obsessive symptoms: e.g., person may continually repeat simple cleaning activities. Anxiety symptoms: Agitation and even previously non-existent violent behavior may occur. Cognitive abulla: i.e., loss of willpower because and individual cannot carry a thought long enough to determine a purposeful course of action

Very severe (Late Dementia)
Level 7

All verbal abilities are lost. Frequently there is no speech at all, only grunting. Incontinent of urine: Requires assistance toileting and feeding. Lose basic psychomotor skills, e.g., ability to walk. The brain appears to no longer be able to tell the body what to do. Generalized and cortical neurologic signs and symptoms are frequently present. The disease ends with death.