Prepare an essay in which you will justify why a pharmaceutical agent was prescribed for a pathological condition (from case study provided below), An optional component of this assignment is to disagree with the agent from the case study under the condition that you provide another agent and justify that instead. Assignment to contain introduction that outlines the pathophysiology of the disease, followed by a justification of your reasoning why the pharmaceutical agent was prescribed. You will need to support that justification using recent research literature with peer-reviewed published evidence to support your argument. Your evidence may be based on factors such as drug efficacy, comparative side effects or common contraindications or other factors that provide benefit. The review will then end with a conclusion that will sum up the arguments and offer a definitive conclusion to reinforce your decision. Follow the marking criteria (found in uploaded material)
Case Study: Alzheimer’s Disease
Veronica is a 64 year old woman who was observed to periodically forget members of her family. After being brought to the local GP by her worried nephew, he later commented that she had been increasingly difficult and hostile towards other relatives, friends and neighbours. Family members had also commented on what appeared to be a gradually worsening memory impairment. On formal testing she scored well below average in all cognitive domains. When asked who the Prime Minster was she reported that she didn’t know and thought it might have been Paul Keating. An MRI scanned revealed a marked decrease in volume of the medial temporal lobe. After consultation with a neurologist, who confirmed a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, she was commenced on galantamine.