Try: Many disorders can affect fine motor skills in the care recipients cr the following are common diseases that impact motor skills stroke is one disorder that can affect fine motor skills among the elderly strokes can be caused by blood clots blocking an artery or by the rupturing of a brain blood vessel lack of blood flow to the cr’s brain can cause brain cell death and brain damage in the affected area the nsa brain cell death affects abilities controlled by the involved brain regions which may include speech memory or gross and fine motor movements the degree of stroke damage largely depends on where the stroke occurred and the amount of brain tissue damaged parkinson parkinson’s disease is another disorder that can affect fine motor skills in the elderly parkinson parkinson’s disease is caused by the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells they are shaking or tremors of the cr’s hands or other body parts while at rest other common parkinson parkinson’s disease-related symptoms include depression anxiety hallucinations constipation and pain osteoarthritis is a disorder that can affect fine motor skills in older crs osteoarthritis is particularly common among the elderly osteoarthritis causes the surface layer of joint cartilage to wear down over time which allows bone lying immediately beneath the cartilage to rub against other bone bone-on-bone contact can be extremely painful and it can cause joint swelling and loss of joint motion osteoarthritis in the joints of the hands and fingers can impair fine motor movements due to pain or alterations in the joint joint’s shape information references livestrong com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Motor skills disease

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Epilepsy will have an impact on the care recipient’s cr brain epilepsy is a disorder of the central nervous system specifically the brain in simple terms the nervous system is a communications network for the cr that controls every thought emotion impression memory and movement nerves throughout the body enable the brain to communicate with every part of the body via electrical signals in epilepsy the brain brain’s electrical rhythms have a tendency to become imbalanced resulting in seizures in the cr the brain is an extraordinarily complex organ when it comes to understanding epilepsy there are several concepts about the brain you’ll need to learn as a caregiver the first is that the brain works on electricity a seizure occurs when the brain brain’s nerve cells misfire and generate a sudden uncontrolled surge of electrical activity in the brain another concept important to epilepsy is that different areas of the brain control different functions in the cr if seizures arise from a specific area of the brain then the initial symptoms of the seizure often reflect the functions of that area the right half of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left half of the brain controls the right side of the body so if a seizure starts from the right side of the brain in the area that controls movement in the thumb then the seizure may begin with jerking of the left thumb or hand information references epilepsy com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Epilepsy seizure brain

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Epilepsy has an impact on the care recipient’s cr brain which can in turn affect moods and behaviors epilepsy and seizures have probably changed the crs moods and behavior whether you realize it or not how they affect behavior depends on how long the cr has had epilepsy and on the stage in life changes caused by seizures seizures can cause many long-lasting mood changes two of the most common changes are becoming depressed or anxious these two disorders can be closely related some experts say that between 30 and 70 of people with epilepsy have depression anxiety or both depression and anxiety are each like a puzzle for example the roots of depression may be made up of different factors including genetic influences changes in neurotransmitters and hormones or unusual patterns of sleep and wakefulness problems of attitude unhelpful reactions to stressful life events lack of social support marital troubles or trouble with friends or family members crs with epilepsy have to deal with two more pieces seizures and brain abnormalities these two pieces can cause other pieces to appear that weren’t there before another common behavior change in the cr is a loss of interest in sex on average the sexual activity level of crs with epilepsy is about the same as for others but some who used to be sexually active find that their sexual interests and activity levels have drastically changed information references epilepsy com

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Keywords: Epilepsy seizure mood

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Epilepsy can affect the care recipient’s cr moods and behaviors changes caused by the crs experience with epilepsy some people find that the biggest change when they learn they have epilepsy is a change in their quality of life the cr’s satisfaction can be affected by mood disorders such as depression by the types of changes in her life life and by the number of seizures she has had recently in fact depression is the greatest predictor of your quality of life for crs with temporal lobe epilepsy the major stumbling blocks in the way of achieving a good quality of life seem to be feelings of dependence emotional impairment and less developed coping skills other studies have looked at all patients with epilepsy and have found the leading factors to be loneliness adjustment coping psychological distress and perception of stigma a new diagnosis of epilepsy is a major event that can dramatically affect your quality of life if you previously valued your health strength and mind suddenly they are not dependable you have new work to do, managing your seizures taking medications and so on positive aspects of your self-image how you see yourself can disappear without being replaced by other equally valued positive aspects situations and places that seemed safe and brought joy can instead cause panic and fear of seizures all these changes can affect your quality of life but if you find a new way to cope with them your quality of life will not be permanently affected and you can live happily again changes caused by others reactions to the cr’s epilepsy the reaction of the cr’s family and friends is important many crs have most social interactions with family so how family members react to epilepsy makes a huge difference in how satisfying your life is ideally family and friends should treat epilepsy as an occasional inconvenience rather than a perpetual tragedy especially if seizures are well controlled social workers psychiatrists and psychologists are available to help with family issues caused by epilepsy family members who are having trouble coping with your epilepsy also may be greatly helped by joining one of the many support groups available for people in similar situations the cr’s workplace fear of facing discrimination or of being fired prevents many people with epilepsy from telling their employers about it sadly this fear is not unfounded; studies have shown that crs with epilepsy can face discrimination information references epilepsy com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Seizure epilepsy mood

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: The Care recipient (cr) with aphasia may have one of many forms there are different types of aphasia each type can cause impairment that varies from mild to severe common types of aphasia expressive aphasia with expressive aphasia the cr knows what he wants to say yet has difficulty communicating it to others it doesn’t matter whether the cr is trying to say or write what he is trying to communicate receptive aphasia with receptive aphasia the cr can hear a voice or read the print but may not understand the meaning of the message oftentimes someone with receptive aphasia takes figurative language literally anomic aphasia with anomic aphasia the cr has word-finding difficulties because of the difficulties the cr struggles with an inability to find the right words for speaking and writing global aphasia this is the most severe type of aphasia it is often seen right after a cr has a stroke with global aphasia the cr has difficulty speaking and understanding words in addition the cr is unable to read or write information references adapted from www webmd com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Aphasia loss of speech stroke

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Aphasia is a communication disorder it it’s a result of damage or injury to language parts of the brain aphasia is more common in older care recipients cr particularly those who have had a stroke more than 1 000 000 americans have aphasia more than those with cerebral palsy multiple sclerosis parkinson parkinson’s disease or muscular dystrophy approximately 30 of the 600 000 americans who suffer a stroke each year will acquire aphasia aphasia can affect the language centers of the brain leaving a permanent disability in areas of communication; producing and or understanding language aphasia gets in the way of a cr cr’s ability to use or understand words however aphasia does not impair the cr cr’s intelligence crs who have aphasia may have difficulty speaking and finding the right words to complete their thoughts the cr may also have problems understanding conversation reading and comprehending written words writing words and using numbers information references adapted from www webmd com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Aphasia speech loss stroke

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Following a stoke or serious injury a caregiver should look for serious changes in communication for the Care recipient (cr) although it is important to understand the symptoms aphasia however must be diagnosed by a doctor usually a doctor first diagnoses aphasia when treating the cr for a stroke brain injury or tumor using a series of neurological tests the doctor may ask the cr questions the doctor may also issue specific commands and ask the cr to name different items or objects the results of these tests help the doctor determine if the cr has aphasia they also help determine the severity of the aphasia in the cr information references webmd com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Aphasia stroke speech loss

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: The care recipient’s cr aphasia treatment will often depend on several factors including the cause of the condition for example a cr with aphasia may have a brain tumor that that’s affecting the language center of the brain surgery for the brain tumor may also be effective treatment for aphasia also a cr with aphasia who has had a stroke may benefit from sessions with a speech-language pathologist the therapist will meet regularly with the cr to increase his or her ability to speak and communicate treatment for someone with aphasia depends on factors such as age cause of brain injury type of aphasia position and size of the brain lesion physical condition and abilities of the cr information references webmd com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Aphasia stroke speech loss

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Depending on the care recipient’s cr condition speech therapy may be a good treatment opiton short but intensive rounds of speech therapy may be better for restoring language skills lost to a stroke than other commonly used treatments researchers found crs who had difficulty speaking or understanding speech showed significant improvement in language and communication skills after a short term of intensive speech therapy many crs recover within a few months after the stroke but up to 60 still have language impairments more than six months after a stroke a condition known as chronic aphasia in a recent study researchers examined the effects of a short-term intensive round of speech therapy in 27 stroke survivors who had suffered from language impairment for about four years each of the stroke survivors received 30 hours of language training three hours a day for 10 days; their language skills were assessed before and immediately after the training as well as six months later the speech therapy used a technique called constraint-induced aphasia therapy or ciat which combines intense verbal communication training with language games that build simple as well as complex language skills the results showed that language skills improved significantly in 85 of the crs after the intensive speech therapy and those improvements were sustained for six months discuss this treatment option with the cr’s doctor to see if it is a possibility information references webmd com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Aphasia speech loss speech therapy

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: As a caregiver it is important to know the common symptoms of aphasia in the Care recipient (cr) common symptoms of aphasia trouble speaking struggling with finding the appropriate term or word using strange or inappropriate words in conversation some cr’s with aphasia have problems understanding what others are saying the problems are enhanced when the cr is tired or in a crowded or loud environment aphasia does not affect thinking skills but the cr may have problems understanding written material and difficulties with handwriting some individuals have trouble using numbers or even doing simple calculations information references adapted fro www webmd com

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Categories: Cognitive Intellectual, Communication, Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Aphasia loss of speech stroke

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed