Wayyyy OT: Alzheimers Disease question
I'm working on a silly little presentation for my abnormal psych class. The assignment was to pick a movie that depicts a mental disorder and assess the accuracy of that depiction. I chose a TV movie that nobody's ever heard of, "Safe House" with Patrick Stewart, just cuz I'm a diehard fan. Stewart's character is a retired government spook and assassin with a lot of important secrets, and he's in the early stages of Alzheimers.
Most of the information I needed to check was easy enough to find, but I'm drawing a blank on one assertion made by the character's psychiatrist to his daughter. The doc tells the daughter that her father needs to avoid sudden stresses, big shocks or trauma, because such an event could lead to a sudden dramatic loss of remaining cognitive function.
Does anybody know enough about Alzheimers to comment on this assertion? I'm about to decide that it's just something they threw in for dramatic effect, since it's an important plot point. But I'd be happy to be proven wrong. Help please?
Most of the information I needed to check was easy enough to find, but I'm drawing a blank on one assertion made by the character's psychiatrist to his daughter. The doc tells the daughter that her father needs to avoid sudden stresses, big shocks or trauma, because such an event could lead to a sudden dramatic loss of remaining cognitive function.
Does anybody know enough about Alzheimers to comment on this assertion? I'm about to decide that it's just something they threw in for dramatic effect, since it's an important plot point. But I'd be happy to be proven wrong. Help please?
This is just from experience, so nothing by the books. My Dad's maternal side of the family have all died from Alzheimer's, as well at his Grandfather's side and I've helped to care for 2 generations. I do agree with this statement. This is not very good odds I suppose for me.
Anytime that there was a major event, there was also a major change in the degree of the disease and always worse.
A good example I'll use is my Grandmother, who lost her youngest son in a car wreck. That was the first blow. Another example is when we had to exercise power of attorney and move them in with my parents. The dementia was entirely a new beast. When she lost my Grandaddy, a new level. And when she eventually had to be put in a nursing home she probably had topped out and stayed at that level till her death.
Anytime that there was a major event, there was also a major change in the degree of the disease and always worse.
A good example I'll use is my Grandmother, who lost her youngest son in a car wreck. That was the first blow. Another example is when we had to exercise power of attorney and move them in with my parents. The dementia was entirely a new beast. When she lost my Grandaddy, a new level. And when she eventually had to be put in a nursing home she probably had topped out and stayed at that level till her death.
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Elizabeth,
Hi!
I don't have research to back this up but I've been told that moving a patient from their home to another location can cause a sudden worsening of their condition. I don't know if a change in residence could be considered shock or trauma but it sure can be stressful even for those who are not afflicted.
Janis
Hi!
I don't have research to back this up but I've been told that moving a patient from their home to another location can cause a sudden worsening of their condition. I don't know if a change in residence could be considered shock or trauma but it sure can be stressful even for those who are not afflicted.
Janis
The first time in my life that I ever saw my dad cry was when they had to move him out of his house to do repairs and he didn't understand. He did get worse and the worst part was he never ended up back in the house, that he had built himself. I don't even remember the doctor telling us anything like that about shock or trauma.
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Hi Elizabeth,
I don't have any studies or anything to back this up but I tend to agree with the assertion made in the movie. In fact, my parents and I were just discussing this recently. We were discussing a family friend who has Alzheimer's and has been living with her daughter here in Michigan. Another daughter who lives in NM came to Michigan and brought her mom for a visit in NM with her. We discussed how we thought that experience would be too traumatic for her and we think she'd experience a much quicker decline. (The woman had to be hospitalized within two weeks of her arrival in NM.) Then we started to discuss all of the family members who did much worse following an event that would seen as a stress, shock, or trauma (Alzheimer's runs in both sides of my family so I've seen the effect).
I don't have any studies or anything to back this up but I tend to agree with the assertion made in the movie. In fact, my parents and I were just discussing this recently. We were discussing a family friend who has Alzheimer's and has been living with her daughter here in Michigan. Another daughter who lives in NM came to Michigan and brought her mom for a visit in NM with her. We discussed how we thought that experience would be too traumatic for her and we think she'd experience a much quicker decline. (The woman had to be hospitalized within two weeks of her arrival in NM.) Then we started to discuss all of the family members who did much worse following an event that would seen as a stress, shock, or trauma (Alzheimer's runs in both sides of my family so I've seen the effect).
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Abstract:
Recent clinical data have implicated chronic adverse stress as a potential risk factor in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and data also suggest that normal, physiological stress responses may be impaired in AD. It is possible that pathology associated with AD causes aberrant responses to chronic stress, due to potential alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Recent study in rodent models of AD suggests that chronic adverse stress exacerbates the cognitive deficits and hippocampal pathology that are present in the AD brain. This review summarizes recent findings obtained in experimental AD models regarding the influence of chronic adverse stress on the underlying cellular and molecular disease processes including the potential role of glucocorticoids. Emerging findings suggest that both AD and chronic adverse stress affect hippocampal neural networks in a similar fashion. We describe alterations in hippocampal plasticity, which occur in both chronic stress and AD including dendritic remodeling, neurogenesis, and long-term potentiation. Finally, we outline potential roles for oxidative stress and neurotrophic factor signaling as the key determinants of the impact of chronic stress on the plasticity of neural networks and AD pathogenesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
Recent clinical data have implicated chronic adverse stress as a potential risk factor in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and data also suggest that normal, physiological stress responses may be impaired in AD. It is possible that pathology associated with AD causes aberrant responses to chronic stress, due to potential alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Recent study in rodent models of AD suggests that chronic adverse stress exacerbates the cognitive deficits and hippocampal pathology that are present in the AD brain. This review summarizes recent findings obtained in experimental AD models regarding the influence of chronic adverse stress on the underlying cellular and molecular disease processes including the potential role of glucocorticoids. Emerging findings suggest that both AD and chronic adverse stress affect hippocampal neural networks in a similar fashion. We describe alterations in hippocampal plasticity, which occur in both chronic stress and AD including dendritic remodeling, neurogenesis, and long-term potentiation. Finally, we outline potential roles for oxidative stress and neurotrophic factor signaling as the key determinants of the impact of chronic stress on the plasticity of neural networks and AD pathogenesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
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