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advanced care directives |
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- Advanced Care Directives provide directions regarding future medical care. The directives are necessary in case an individual becomes unable to make decisions or communicate decisions about his or her care due to severe or terminal illness, injury, loss of consciousness or other medical conditions. |
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aging changes in the nervous system |
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Alzheimer's disease |
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- Alzheimer's disease is a common, progressive, degenerative disease of the brain. It is characterised by loss of memory and other cognitive functions. Among people aged 65 or older, it is the most common cause of dementia. Dementia is a group of symptoms marked by the gradual loss of mental function. |
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Alzheimer's disease and estrogen |
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- Recent research suggests a possible link between the hormone oestrogen and Alzheimer's disease in women. Alzheimer's disease is a common, progressive, degenerative disease of the brain. It is characterised by loss of memory and other cognitive functions. |
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chronic subdural hematoma |
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- A chronic subdural haematoma is a buildup of blood between the membrane covering the brain, known as the dura, and the brain itself. This condition occurs as a result of a head injury and develops slowly over time. The trauma does not have to be significant to produce this condition. |
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cognitive impairment |
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cognitive testing |
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- Cognitive testing can detect changes in the way the brain functions. It can also determine whether the changes have occurred as a result of brain injury, illness or disease. Cognitive testing looks at a person's thinking skills. It also explores whether emotional or physical problems are interfering with those thinking skills. Specific areas examined during cognitive testing include: attention concentration memory abstract thinking problem solving judgment language skills ability to interpret information from senses (such as hearing, vision, touch) ability to control fine motor skills in the hands intelligence academic skills emotional functioningWho is a candidate for the test? |
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confusion |
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- Confusion is an abnormal mental condition or state of mind. A person who is confused has trouble understanding the environment and may react or respond inappropriately to it. |
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Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease |
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- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare and fatal infectious disease of the brain. |
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dementia |
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- Dementia is not a disease but a result of certain diseases. It is a group of symptoms marked by the gradual loss of mental function. These functions involve thinking, recall, memory loss, reasoning, and planning. |
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memory loss |
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normal pressure hydrocephalus disease |
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respite care |
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- Respite care is short-term, temporary care provided to people with severe disabilities, chronic illnesses, or terminal illnesses. It is designed to give families a break from the stress of daily caregiving. Respite care can be for a few hours, overnight, or for days. The amount of care can change with the needs of the family and/or the ill or disabled person. |
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urinary incontinence |
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- Urinary incontinence is the uncontrollable loss of urine. The six main types of urinary incontinence are: urge incontinence, which is an urgent need to urinate followed by urine leakage stress incontinence, which is the leakage of urine when laughing, coughing, sneezing, or lifting heavy objects overflow incontinence, which occurs when small amounts of urine leak from a full bladder total incontinence, or a constant dripping of urine day and night psychological incontinence, which has an emotional rather than a physical cause mixed incontinence, which is a mixture of the causes listedWhat is going on in the body? |
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Useful Links |
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Alzheimer's Association of Australia Inc - Helpline: 1800 639 331 - Council on the Ageing (COTA) - Independent consumer organisation to protect and promote the well-being of all older people. - AdvoCare - Promoting the rights of people... |
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