AAC Alzheimer's Disease & Related Dementias 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A caregiver notices their loved one with Alzheimer's repeatedly asks the same question every few minutes. What is the most appropriate response strategy?
- Tell the person they already asked that question
- Ignore the question to discourage the behavior
- Answer calmly each time as if it is the first time (Correct answer)
- Redirect with a firm 'stop asking that'
Correct answer: Answer calmly each time as if it is the first time
Answering patiently each time honors the person's experience, since they genuinely do not remember asking, and reduces anxiety.
Question 2: Vascular dementia most commonly results from which underlying cause?
- Accumulation of Lewy bodies
- Reduced blood flow to the brain due to strokes or vessel disease (Correct answer)
- Buildup of tau tangles in frontal lobes
- Loss of hippocampal volume from stress
Correct answer: Reduced blood flow to the brain due to strokes or vessel disease
Vascular dementia occurs when strokes or small vessel disease damage brain tissue by reducing oxygen and nutrient delivery.
Question 3: Which FDA-approved class of medication targets glutamate regulation to treat moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease?
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- NMDA receptor antagonists (Correct answer)
- Cholinesterase inhibitors
- Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
Correct answer: NMDA receptor antagonists
Memantine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, regulates glutamate activity to protect neurons and is approved for moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's.
Question 4: Which dementia type is often associated with Parkinson's disease and involves motor symptoms alongside cognitive decline?
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Vascular dementia
- Lewy body dementia (Correct answer)
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Correct answer: Lewy body dementia
Lewy body dementia shares pathology with Parkinson's disease dementia and presents with both motor features (tremor, rigidity) and cognitive impairment.
Question 5: Person-centered care in dementia emphasizes which core principle?
- Prioritizing safety above all personal preferences
- Treating all dementia patients with the same protocol
- Recognizing the individual's history, preferences, and dignity (Correct answer)
- Focusing exclusively on medical interventions
Correct answer: Recognizing the individual's history, preferences, and dignity
Person-centered care focuses on the unique needs, life history, and preferences of the individual rather than applying uniform dementia protocols.
Question 6: Which area of the brain is typically affected first in Alzheimer's disease, explaining early memory loss symptoms?
- Prefrontal cortex
- Cerebellum
- Hippocampus (Correct answer)
- Occipital lobe
Correct answer: Hippocampus
The hippocampus, critical for forming new memories, is among the first brain structures damaged in Alzheimer's disease.
Question 7: What is 'mixed dementia'?
- Dementia caused by medication side effects combined with aging
- The simultaneous presence of two or more types of dementia pathology in one person (Correct answer)
- A dementia syndrome affecting both sexes equally
- Mild cognitive impairment combined with depression
Correct answer: The simultaneous presence of two or more types of dementia pathology in one person
Mixed dementia occurs when a person has more than one type of dementia simultaneously, most commonly Alzheimer's combined with vascular dementia.
AAC Alzheimer's Disease & Related Dementias 3
A caregiver notices their loved one with Alzheimer's repeatedly asks the same question every few minutes.
What is the most appropriate response strategy?