Essays on Dysphagia

Post-stroke dysphagia, a potentially fatal complication, affects an estimated 23-50% of all stroke survivors. It is associated with a seven fold increase in the risk for aspiration pneumonia. Aspiration pneumonia increases the catabolic demands of the body and in the settings of impaired swallowing leads to a vicious cycle of malnutrition, dehydration, and further infections (Shaker & Geenen, 2011). Dysphagia affects a significant number of patients with hemispheric stroke which is the main subtype of ischemic stroke in the general population (Kumar et al., 2011). The functions of swallowing are subserved by a vast brain network. The inferior peri-rolandic sensorimotor ...

John Magill is a 75-year-old male with Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with five years ago. John was admitted to the hospital after falling at home. The physical examination revealed bruising on John’s hips and buttocks, as well as a tear on the right hip, but the X-ray did not reveal fractures in the lower extremities. The emergency department noted generalised tremor, decreased mobility, signs of confusion, agitation, and restlessness. The assessment of John’s vital signs showed that most measures are within expected ranges for an elderly person (temperature 37.2; respiratory rate 24; heart rate ...

Age: 75 years

Medical Record No: 66543N History and physical examination conducted: June 21, 2016 Source: The patients presents his own medical history and is a reliable source Chief Complain presented: Abdominal pain The History of the Present Illness Past medical history The patient presents with diabetes diagnosed 10 years ago, that is well controlled with Metoprolol medication. He also presents with depression and the patient uses Prozac medication for depression management. Mr. X had been previously hospitalized in 2010 due to MI and cardiac catheterization was done therefore, the patient present with a positive history of surgery.

Social history

Family history The patient ...

Dehydration is the excessive loss of water by an individual which in turn reciprocates in the disruption of the normal bodily functions. This improper functioning of the body is mainly caused by the fact that the human body is in a constant state of losing fluids and it is always required that the lost water be replaced, however if not replaced, then complications may arise. The elderly in the nursing homes tend to be victims of dehydration mainly due various reasons such as being unable to speak out when they need to be given fluids and further inadequate supervision ...

Individuals with advanced age are prone to acquire a spectrum of illnesses due to a decline in their body functions. This group requires a thorough care management from the health care system to overcome further consequences. In such context, the present description deals with a topic entitled ‘Nutrition and Hydration in Older Adults’

Significance to nursing students:

This topic is important to nursing because nurse serve as the ideal candidates who could provide the care and warmth needed for the patients of this particular old age. In the nurse profession, geriatric nurses are special category of nurses who assist the older patients. The ...

Nutritional Assessment for the Elderly

The 10-item Eating Assessment Tool (also called EAT-10) is a self-administered questionnaire meant for dysphagia screening, having every item score from 0-4. The EAT-10 was developed specially to solve the clinical demands for quick, self-administered and initial score questionnaire for assessing the gravity of dysphagia symptoms. Also, it has been validated to have outstanding criterion-based validity, consistency and testretest reproducibility. First, EAT-10 is independently linked with the nutritional state once adjusting for age, setting and gender. Second, the EAT-10 score is independently related to nutritional status and activities of daily living (ADL) after adjusting for age and sex (Dutton, ...

Definition and history of stomach cancer

Stomach cancer also called gastric cancer is a disease that is characterized by the uninhibited proliferation of abnormal cells in the tissues lining the stomach. These cells are abnormal in the sense that genetic mutations render them autonomous hence they are not under the control of growth regulating signals. Gastric cancer used to be the second most prevalent cancer but sharp declines have been seen in its rate in the developed countries especially over the second half of the last century, for instance it is the fourteenth most common malignancy in the United States. However, the same cannot be said ...