why might an alzheimers patient report an injury

Or the opposite may happen -- a patient with Alzheimer's disease or his family may be searching for an explanation for the condition, and therefore may be more likely to assume that there was an earlier head injury. Or, "when the time frame is immediate and the head injury mild, the injury probably just draws the family's attention to the patient.

Full Answer

Is there a link between Alzheimer's and head injury?

Oct. 23, 2000 -- Many patients with Alzheimer's disease have a head injury years before they develop the characteristic memory problems, and researchers have long suggested a link between the two conditions. But could it be just a coincidence? Or does head injury in some way trigger changes leading to Alzheimer's disease, or make it appear earlier?

How do doctors measure the pain of Alzheimer's disease?

Doctors can use a tool called the Pain and Discomfort Scale or PADS. It's a system for evaluating pain based on facial expressions and body movements. But people caring for someone with Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease or other dementias can do an even better job than doctors can.

Is Alzheimer’s heading toward a medical emergency?

“We’re heading toward a medical emergency,” Joanne Pike, the chief program officer for the Alzheimer’s Association, said last year. In 2016, the U. S. had about one geriatrician for every 2,000 older Americans in need of their service.

What are the risks of Alzheimer's disease?

Self neglect: Due to lack of insight and cognitive changes, a person with Alzheimer's may be unable to safely and adequately provide for day-to-day needs, and may be at risk for harm, falls, wandering and/or malnutrition. Caregivers — both family and professionals — are most often the abusers of older people.

Why dementia patients are risk for injury?

People with dementia are also at risk of falls because they can potentially misjudge environmental hazards, overestimate their own ability, or suffer memory impairment.

What are safety issues associated with Alzheimer's?

A person with Alzheimer's disease may choke or suffocate. Remove all guns and other weapons from the home or lock them up. Install safety locks on guns or remove ammunition and firing pins. Lock all power tools and machinery in the garage, workroom, or basement.

Can an injury make dementia worse?

Outcomes. Alzheimer's disease and other dementias that may occur as a long-term result of traumatic brain injury are progressive disorders that worsen over time.

Can Alzheimer's be caused by injury?

More-severe head injuries may increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. And sustaining a head injury when you're older, around age 55, may also increase your risk. Repeated mild injuries also may increase your risk of future problems with thinking and reasoning.

How can you protect dementia client from injury?

Avoid injury during daily activities The person living with dementia may not remember to check the temperature. » Install walk-in showers. Add grab bars to the shower or tub and at the edge of the vanity to allow for independent, safe movement. » Add textured stickers to slippery surfaces.

What are some of the common risks associated with dementia patients?

Risk Factors for DementiaAge. The risk of Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and several other dementias goes up significantly with advancing age.Genetics/family history. ... Smoking and alcohol use. ... Atherosclerosis. ... Cholesterol. ... Plasma homocysteine. ... Diabetes. ... Mild cognitive impairment.

Can a fall make Alzheimer's worse?

About 1 in every 4 seniors falls at least once a year, and that's even more common for people who have Alzheimer's disease. The main thing to watch for is any sign that your loved one's condition is worse after a fall. If they're knocked out (unconscious), stay calm.

What does brain injury affect?

Brain injuries can have significant effects on behaviour, impacting impulse control and self awareness. These effects stem from damage to areas of the brain that regulate emotions and impulses and include anger, impulsive behaviour, self-centeredness, impaired awareness and even violence.

What happens if a person has brain injury?

More-serious traumatic brain injury can result in bruising, torn tissues, bleeding and other physical damage to the brain. These injuries can result in long-term complications or death.

What type of brain injury causes memory loss?

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain caused by a trauma to the head. This may affect a particular section, or lobe, of the brain or the whole brain and cause memory loss, blurred vision, dizziness, nausea or loss of consciousness.

What can cause a traumatic brain injury?

People most commonly get TBIs from a fall, firearm-related injury, motor vehicle crash, or an assaultFalls lead to nearly half of the TBI-related hospitalizations. ... Firearm-related suicide is the most common cause of TBI-related deaths in the United States.More items...

Can a head injury bring on dementia?

Head injury is the third most common cause of dementia, after infection and alcoholism, in people younger than 50 years. Older people with head injury are more likely to have complications such as dementia. Children are likely to have more severe complications.

How California and Other States have Handled Patient Liability for Personal Injuries to Healthcare Workers

Gregory v. Cott was recently decided by the California Supreme Court. The facts, in brief, are as follows – in 2005, Bernard Cott hired a home health care agency to care for his then 85-year-old wife who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s years earlier. The plaintiff, Carolyn Gregory, was assigned to care for the patient, Mrs. Cott.

How might a Pennsylvania Court Rule on an Injury Caused by a Patient?

Pennsylvania has long held that a doctor can be held liable for injuries caused to a third party by a patient. However, the harm must be reasonably foreseeable by the doctor. In the 1990 case DiMarco v. Lynch Homes, a doctor was held liable for a failure to provide accurate information regarding the contagiousness of an STD.

Liability for Personal Injuries is Fact-Sensitive and Complex

As all of these situations makes clear, liability can be a particularly complex topic fraught with factual and legal questions.

What is the pain and discomfort scale?

Doctors can use a tool called the Pain and Discomfort Scale or PADS. It's a system for evaluating pain based on facial expressions and body movements. But people caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease or other dementias can do an even better job than doctors can.

What does it mean when a patient is less able than healthy to turn their attention away from the pain?

Less able to put the pain into the context of their experience, they found the pain more distressing. And these were patients still able to communicate.

What is the test used to find out if your thumbs are hurting?

During this test, the researchers used a real-time brain scan -- functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) -- to look for activity in the brain 's major pain channels.

When to watch facial expressions?

The trick is to watch the facial expressions and movements of patients when they are not in pain, both during sleep and waking hours.

Can Alzheimer's patients feel pain?

That might seem obvious. But there's been an assumption that Alzheimer's patients can't feel pain as sharply as can other agingaging adults. That assumption plays out in practice: Alzheimer's patients receive painkillers less often than their peers do. Now an Australian study provides powerful evidence that Alzheimer's patients feel pain as ...

Does Alzheimer's cause pain?

Now an Australian study provides powerful evidence that Alzheimer's patients feel pain as powerful ly as others -- if not more so.

Is Alzheimer's disease vulnerable to abuse?

Those with Alzheimer's and other dementias are vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Learn types and signs of abuse and how to report an incident or concern.

Is wandering dangerous for dementia patients?

Wandering among people with dementia is dangerous, but there are strategies and services to help prevent it.

How high is the risk of Alzheimer's?

Risk of Alzheimer's disease or of other forms of dementia was about twice as high in those with moderate head injury, and about four times as high in those with severe head injury. Mild head injury did not significantly increase risk.

How many people have Alzheimer's disease?

Both conditions are very common -- about 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, and about 2 million Americans each year have a head injury. So by chance alone, there is likely to be some overlap. Earlier studies examining this question suffered from inaccuracies related to patients with Alzheimer's disease, or their family members, ...

Can head injuries cause Alzheimer's?

24 issue of Neurology is helping to solve these mysteries, as it shows that head injuries in young men are associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in late life, and the risk goes up when the injury is more severe.

Can boxing cause Alzheimer's?

While professional boxers tend to get "punch-drunk," developing memory problems related to repeated blows to the head, this study showed that even a single moderate or severe head injury increased risk of Alzheimer's disease up to 40 to 50 years later.

Is it safe to take ibuprofen for Alzheimer's?

Recent research suggests that some relatively safe medications , including anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen, might prevent Alzheimer's disease, but more rigorous studies are needed.

Why do people sue their caregivers?

Another primary reason why attempting to sue the patient or family unless negligence is apparent is that the caregiver has an assumed risk in possible injury when taking care of someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s. The assumed risk exists in the potential for this person to attack someone at any point because of confusion or certain violent tendencies with some patients. The risk increases if the individual cannot cope with memory loss or a lack of cognitive skills in understanding situations. The caregiver knew before taking on the job that the risk of injury existed because of the condition and he or she took employment with this assumption.

What do you need to hire a lawyer for an Alzheimer's patient?

The caregiver hired to help with the Alzheimer’s patient will need to hire a lawyer to determine how to progress through a case once the injury is severe enough that compensation is necessary. The lawyer will need to protect his or her rights but also explain what legal options exist based on the state and the situation.

Can a caregiver be held responsible for damages?

While the patient often cannot become the liable party, there are others that the caregiver can hold responsible for damages. The family can retain liability for paying compensatory damages because of negligence. A company involved in the hiring of the caregiver can also retain responsibility if negligence exists.

Who is liable for damages if negligence exists?

It is difficult to determine who is liable for damages unless negligence exists with certain individuals such as the family or a facility. The caregiver who suffers injury from the person with the condition is usually not held liable as many states understand the lack of understanding and intent to cause harm.

Can caregivers sign waivers for Alzheimer's?

Hazardous Conditions. Caregivers hired for issues related to Alzheimer’s must understand and may even sign a waiver because of the hazardous condition. The injuries incurred during this employment may take the possibility of a lawsuit away from hired caregivers.

Can an employee sue someone for dementia?

This is possible in any state where the supreme court of the area concludes the same decision. The employee has no ability to sue this patient when he or she takes care of the individual if the court denies the case as valid. Someone with this condition has no capacity to understand what happened.

Is Alzheimer's a legal liability?

It is important to understand how legal liability exists for someone that has Alzheimer’s and there is a caregiver involved in injurious situations. When the caregiver suffers an injury at the hands of this patient, he or she will need to know what rights exist and what legal options are available to pursue these circumstances.

How to report abuse to Alzheimer's?

Reporting abuse. To report an incident or concern of abuse or neglect, call the Alzheimer's Association® (800.272.3900) or Eldercare Locator (800.677.1116). You'll be connected to your state or local adult protective services division or to a long-term care ombudsman.

Why are people with dementia vulnerable?

People with dementia are especially vulnerable because the disease may prevent them from reporting the abuse or recognizing it. They also may fall prey to strangers who take advantage of their cognitive impairment. Types of abuse. Signs of abuse. Reporting abuse.

What are the signs of abuse?

While one sign does not necessarily indicate abuse, signs that there may be a problem include the following: Bruises, pressure marks, broken bones, abrasions and burns may be an indication of physical abuse, neglect or mistreatment.

Why do people with Alzheimer's have self neglect?

Self neglect: Due to lack of insight and cognitive changes, a person with Alzheimer's may be unable to safely and adequately provide for day-to-day needs, and may be at risk for harm, falls, wandering and/or malnutrition. Caregivers — both family and professionals — are most often the abusers of older people.

What are the different types of abuse?

Abuse comes in many forms: Physical: causing physical pain or injury. Emotional: verbal assaults, threats of abuse, harassment and intimidation. Neglect: failure to provide necessities, including food, clothing, shelter, medical care or a safe environment. Confinement: restraining or isolating the person.

What does it mean when you are withdrawn from normal activities?

Unexplained withdrawal from normal activities, a sudden change in alertness or unexpected depression may be an indicator of emotional abuse.

What are the signs of exploitation?

Sudden changes in financial situations may be the result of exploitation. Bedsores, unattended medical needs, poor hygiene and unusual weight loss may indicate neglect. Belittling, threats or other uses of power by spouses, family members or others may indicate verbal or emotional abuse.

How many words did Melzack collect?

After collecting 102 words used by patients at a pain clinic to describe their various agonies, Melzack set out to find a framework within this list that could not only quantify the physical intensity of a person’s hurt but also assess their experience of it. “It gradually dawned on me that the words could serve as a questionnaire that would provide credible evidence of the perceived, subjective qualities of a person’s pain,” he later recalled, “and perhaps throw light on what parts of the brain were involved in producing such feelings.”

What is the meaning of "to have pain is to have certainty"?

“To hear about pain is to have doubt.” Helping someone cope with pain requires glimpsing, through imagination alone, the invisible interior of another person’s body—and then accepting that imagined suffering as real and true.

What is the McGill Pain Questionnaire?

Melzack’s invention, the McGill Pain Questionnaire, or MPQ, asked patients to describe their pain using words that fell into three categories: the sensory, the affective, and the evaluative. The sensory category identifies pain’s physicality through qualities such as temperature, intensity, and magnitude. (As virtually everyone knows, pain can prickle, or shoot, or ache, or sting—and each of these sensations can be unlike any of the others.)

How many people will die from Alzheimer's in 2050?

And there are a lot of possibilities. In the U.S., an estimated 5.8 million people aged 65 or older have Alzheimer’s—a figure expected to balloon to 13.8 million by 2050 as the population continues to age. One in three seniors dies with dementia. Dementia doesn’t preclude any of the common sources of pain for the elderly, of course—cancer, ...

How does Alzheimer's disease affect communication?

Alzheimer’s disease, the most frequent cause of dementia, can undermine the entire process of conveying pain, from perception to communication. A person with Alzheimer’s might express discomfort by wandering, moaning, or refusing to eat or sleep, but the same behaviors might express loneliness, or hunger, or sadness—or they might be symptoms of the disease itself. Asked to choose which emotional expression on a chart matches their current state, a person with Alzheimer’s might, in confusion, point to the face they think they should feel. Dr. Sharon Brangman, a geriatrician at SUNY Upstate, told me about a patient who complained of frequent headaches. Only later did she realize that “headache” was the woman’s metaphor for not being able to remember.

How many tools are there for dementia?

Over the past quarter century, about 30 different tools or methods have been developed to specifically assess pain in people with dementia. Unfortunately, general practitioners who take care of these patients are often not even aware of their existence.

What happens when a person doesn't understand pain?

When a person feels pain but doesn’t understand it, they can end up silently suffering.

What is the NIA ADEAR?

NIA Alzheimer’s and related Dementias Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center. 800-438-4380 (toll-free) adear@nia.nih.gov. www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers. The NIA ADEAR Center offers information and free print publications about Alzheimer’s and related dementias for families, caregivers, and health professionals.

How to deal with agitation?

Here are some ways you can cope with agitation or aggression: 1 Reassure the person. Speak calmly. Listen to his or her concerns and frustrations. Try to show that you understand if the person is angry or fearful. 2 Allow the person to keep as much control in his or her life as possible. 3 Try to keep a routine, such as bathing, dressing, and eating at the same time each day. 4 Build quiet times into the day, along with activities. 5 Keep well-loved objects and photographs around the house to help the person feel more secure. 6 Try gentle touching, soothing music, reading, or walks. 7 Reduce noise, clutter, or the number of people in the room. 8 Try to distract the person with a favorite snack, object, or activity. 9 Limit the amount of caffeine, sugar, and “junk food” the person drinks and eats.

What is the number to contact Alzheimer's?

Explore the Alzheimers.gov portal for information and resources on Alzheimer’s and related dementias from across the federal government. Family Caregiver Alliance. 800-445-8106 (toll-free) info@caregiver.org.

How to deal with Alzheimer's when it's hard to do something?

Being pushed by others to do something—for example, to bathe or to remember events or people —when Alzheimer’s has made the activity very hard or impossible. Look for early signs of agitation or aggression. If you see the signs, you can deal with the cause before problem behaviors start. Try not to ignore the problem.

Why do people get agitated with Alzheimer's?

Agitation means that a person is restless or worried. He or she doesn’t seem to be able to settle down. Agitation may cause pacing, sleeplessness, or aggression, which is when a person lashes out verbally or tries to hit or hurt someone.

What is the phone number for Alzheimer's?

If you are interested in learning more about Alzheimer's & Dementia, please call us at 1-800-438-4380, Mon-Fri, 8:30 am-5:00 pm Eastern Time or send an email to adear@nia.nih.gov.

How to stop a person from snorting?

Reduce noise, clutter, or the number of people in the room. Try to distract the person with a favorite snack, object, or activity. Limit the amount of caffeine, sugar, and “junk food” the person drinks and eats. Here are some things you can do: