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Are Alzheimer’s Patients Aware of Their Deficits?

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Alzheimer’s Disease

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Neurology ((CCNEU))

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Abstract

It is a common clinical observation that, despite significant and often disabling cognitive dysfunction and impaired self-care abilities, patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) frequently seem to be unaware of their deficits. In some individuals this is manifested simply by a tendency to minimize the significance of their symptoms, while at the opposite extreme, patients may positively deny the most flagrant of clinical deficits. In others, unawareness is apparent from a patient’s actions, even if he or she verbally acknowledges the presence of the illness and its attendant symptoms. It is probable that—at least to some extent—virtually all individuals with established AD exhibit a deficiency in the metacognitive capacity to monitor their own physical and mental state.

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Authors
  1. Ben Seltzer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, USA

    Ralph W. Richter MD, FACP (Clinical Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, Director) (Clinical Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, Director)

  2. Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit, St. John Medical Center, Tulsa, OK, USA

    Ralph W. Richter MD, FACP (Clinical Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, Director) (Clinical Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, Director)

  3. Tulsa, OK, USA

    Brigitte Zoeller Richter DiplPharm (Pharmacist, Publicist) (Pharmacist, Publicist)

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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Seltzer, B. (2004). Are Alzheimer’s Patients Aware of Their Deficits?. In: Richter, R.W., Richter, B.Z. (eds) Alzheimer’s Disease. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-661-4_45

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-661-4_45

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4485-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-661-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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