Does the combination of Donepezil and memantine alleviate behavioral symptoms an
Does the combination of Donepezil and memantine alleviate behavioral symptoms and slow down cognitive decline in Alzheimers disease Patients without compromising their tolerability?
NURS 3046 Nursing ProjectAssignment 1 (2000 words 45%)
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Please note: this assignment is 2000 words so only that word count will be marked. The 2000 word count includes in-test references but excludes the Reference List.
Background (300approx)
State yourresearch question and provide background and rationale about why you developed the question. Explain how your research question is important and relevant (useful) for the development of clinical practice or professional knowledge at a local and/or international level.
Alzheimers disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder that affects and causes the loss of cognitive faculties denying the affected patients the ability to effectively perform their activities of daily living (Doraiswamy et al. 2008). It is presently the most prevalent form of adult onset dementia and the affected patients usually experience both neuropsychiatric and behavioral difficulties. Although there is presently no specific cure for Alzheimers disease the cholinergic and glutamatergic system treatments have been found to alleviate the cognitive and behavioral symptoms to a great extent (Doraiswamy et al. 2008). The acetyl cholinesterase/cholinesterase inhibitors usually elevate the levels of the acetylcholine and this is achieved breaking down the neurotransmitters. On the other hand memantine acts by antagonizing the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors thus alleviating the patients behavioral symptoms (Tariot et al. 2005).
Research Question Does the combination of Donepezil and memantine alleviate behavioral symptoms and slow down cognitive decline in Alzheimers disease Patients without compromising their tolerability?
Since there is no particular treatment that has been developed to completely cure or modify the disease the attention of all medical professionals and researchers has been focused on alleviating the symptoms minimizing their progression and at the same time ensuring that the underlying pathophysiology is not modified. More resources and time should therefore be invested towards achieving these treatment goals since their achievement gives patients the opportunity to stay for a longer period of time on the more functional milder stages of the disease. Although alleviating disease symptoms and reducing their clinical worsening is very beneficial in improving the quality of life of Alzheimers disease patients their safety is equally important thus the rationale of focusing on the safety and tolerability of the combination treatment as well.
Summarise Four Primary Research Articles(1000 words)
Write a summary paragraph of your 4 research articles using the five step format you learned in Week 2.