Home Care for Seniors with Lewy Body Dementia
The most important thing about home care for your loved one with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) includes support for all their life needs, from healthcare to physical activity, diet, emotional support, and overall care. When it comes to LBD your loved one may need physical therapy, activity, and other types of daily care. Considering these needs, proper home care helps make sure that your loved one’s daily life remains as comfortable as possible.
Definition and Diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia
Home Care Lowell, MI: Seniors with Lewy Body DementiaA diagnosis of LBD requires a progressive decline in the ability to think, along with the comparison of the following measures for your loved one:
● Fluctuating alertness and thinking (cognitive function)
● Visual hallucinations (possibly repeated)
● Parkinson’s symptoms (in addition to cognitive symptoms)
● REM sleep disorders, or acting out of dreams during sleep
Any of these symptoms may be found in your loved one, whether it is considered an autonomic dysfunction based upon instability in blood pressure and heart rate. There is a potential that these symptoms also come from the poor regulation of body temperature, sweating, and related symptoms, then supporting an LBD diagnosis. It is important to remember that your loved one needs more than one test to diagnose LBD, from which point home care may be able to help with the long-term needs of your senior. Some of the most important tests may include the following:
● Neurological and physical examination to check for signs of Parkinson’s disease, strokes, tumors, along with reflexes, strength, walking, muscle tone, eye movements, balance, and sense of touch.
● Assessment of mental abilities including your memory and thinking skills, done in less than 10 minutes in the doctor’s office, collecting some basic symptoms of LBD or Alzheimer’s, and at least signs of dementia. At this point, cognitive issues are definitely determined and decided if further tests are needed.
● Blood tests can eliminate physical problems that affect brain function like vitamin B-12 deficiency or an underactive thyroid gland.
● Brain scans like an MRI or CT scan to identify a stroke or bleeding and to rule out the possibility of a tumor. Imaging studies can suggest different types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s or LBD, although additional imaging tests, including Fluorodeoxyglucose PET brain scan, can assess brain function imaging which can determine whether dopamine transporter uptake is reduced in the brain.
● Sleep evaluation – Your doctor may order a sleep evaluation to check for REM sleep behavior disorder or an autonomic function test to look for signs of heart rate and blood pressure instability.
● Heart tests called myocardial scintigraphy to check the blood flow to your heart, another potential sign of LBD.
Home Care for Lewy Body Dementia
For home care services and health care providers without LBD experience, there is the potential of a challenge every day. Considering the mortal danger of this illness, your senior deserves the greatest home care, and finding the best home care simply takes a quality search. There may be a checklist for the proper care to seek, and the proper person who is prepared for the unpredictability of LBD. There is no reason to assume that a medical professional is the definite need, but someone who is trustworthy and comforting. It can be hard for your senior to know what to expect upon the diagnosis of LBD, making coping with this illness quite difficult and the proper help of home care quite essential. It is important for home caregivers to take an active role during appointments and follow along prepared with your senior’s information as far as any symptoms that may have progressed from one appointment to the next.
If you or someone you know needs help with Home Care in Lowell, MI,contact Gauthier Family Home Care.We provide quality and affordable homecare services in our community.Call us at (616) 258-2300 for more information.
Sources
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lewy-body-dementia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352030
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/how-care-person-lewy-body-dementia
https://www.lbda.org/content/role-palliative-and-hospice-care-in-lbd
https://www.thememorycenter.com/how-to-care-for-someone-with-lewy-body-dementia/
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