{"id":6953,"date":"2015-11-04T20:15:28","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T20:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preferhome.com\/managing-an-alzheimers-patient\/"},"modified":"2015-11-04T20:15:28","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T20:15:28","slug":"managing-an-alzheimers-patient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preferhome.com\/locations\/blog\/managing-an-alzheimers-patient\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing an Alzheimer\u2019s or Dementia Patient: Are You the One who is Angry?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A common emotional reaction to stressful situations is anger. \u00a0Some research theorizes that anger can increase the risk of heart disease. \u00a0Dr. J.E. Williams directed an influential 5 year study on this finding by researching approximately 13,000 men and woman with no prior history of heart disease. \u00a0Researchers found a significantly higher rate of heart attacks among the participants who exhibited an angry disposition. \u00a0Among the participants with normal blood pressure, the high-anger subjects experienced almost three times as many coronary events as the low-anger subjects. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anger is an element of a personality type. \u00a0In the 1950\u2019s, a theory called Type A personality behavior was identified by a pair of cardiologists named Friedman and Rosenman. \u00a0The Type A personality was purported to include several elements, three of them being: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A strong competitive orientation<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Impatience and time urgency<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Anger and hostility<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I entertain this subject in an effort to help all of us Type A personalities who are caregivers. \u00a0When dealing with an angry patient or loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, it may be difficult not to mimic that aggression and respond in anger based on our personality orientation. \u00a0It goes without saying, but we don\u2019t want an anger response to increase our risk of heart disease or to affect our relationship with our loved one. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Here are a few ideas from the Alzheimer\u2019s Association that may help us prevent an incident because of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!<\/span><\/p>\n