A 50-year-old woman tells the nurse that every day she forgets one to two tasks or items in her daily routine. She states her mother had some kind of mental illness in which she had to be institutionalized at 42 years of age and passed away at age 45

Question

She stated, "My mother forgot who we were when she was institutionalized." Based on this information the nurse suspects:
A) Huntington's disease
B) Heart disease
C) Cerebrovascular accident
D) Alzheimer's disease

Answer 1

Ans: D
Feedback: Nurses must be alert for family histories indicating that multiple generations (autosomal dominant inheritance) or multiple siblings (autosomal recessive inheritance) are affected with the same condition or that onset of disease is earlier than expected (multiple generations with early onset) When a family history of disease is identified, the nurse must be responsible for making the patient aware that this family history is a risk factor for disease. Huntington's disease is noted with mental deterioration, but the patient does not present with jerky movements of the head and limbs. Heart disease and cerebrovascular accident can occur in a woman her age but there is no evidence of these conditions in the patient scenario.