A. 

Accelerated Forgetting = Difficulty recalling knowledge recently gained.

 

ADLs = Activities of Daily Living = in such areas as dressing, bathing, and eating meals.

 

Acute Confusional States = The cardinal manifestations of delirium is a cognitive disturbance with disorientation, temporal fluctuation, and onset over a few hours or days.

 

Acute Emotional Distress = Really bad news, extremely terrible conflict, or a very heavy workload.

 

ADD = Attention Deficit Disorder = named in 1980. Currently the Predominantly Inattentive Type of ADHD.

 

ADHD = Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder = named in 1994 . It is characterized by problems paying attention, excessive activity, or difficulty controlling behavior which is not appropriate for a person's age. The symptoms appear before a person is twelve years old, are present for more than six months, and cause problems in at least two settings (such as school, home, or recreational activities). Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type or the Combined Type of ADHD.

 

Alzheimer's Early-Stage = Mild and typically progresses slowly in three general stages — mild (early-stage), moderate (middle-stage), and severe (late-stage). Early stage signs: a person may function independently, may still drive, work and be part of social activities, and despite this, the person may feel as if he or she is having memory lapses, such as forgetting familiar words or the location of everyday objects.

 

Alzheimer's Middle-Stage = Moderate and is typically the longest stage and can last for many years. As the disease progresses, the person with Alzheimer's will require a greater level of care. Symptoms will be noticeable to others and may include: forgetfulness of events or about one's own personal history, feeling moody or withdrawn, especially in socially or mentally challenging situations, being unable to recall their own address or telephone number or the high school or college from which they graduated, confusion about where they are or what day it is, the need for help choosing proper clothing for the season or the occasion, trouble controlling bladder and bowels in some individuals, changes in sleep patterns, such as sleeping during the day and becoming restless at night, an increased risk of wandering and becoming lost, and/or personality and behavioral changes, including suspiciousness and delusions or compulsive, repetitive behavior like hand-wringing or tissue shredding.

 

Alzheimer's Late-Stage = Severe and individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, to carry on a conversation and, eventually, to control movement. They may still say words or phrases, but communicating pain becomes difficult. As memory and cognitive skills continue to worsen, significant personality changes may take place and individuals need extensive help with daily activities. At this stage, individuals may: need round-the-clock assistance with daily activities and personal care, lose awareness of recent experiences as well as of their surroundings, experience changes in physical abilities, including the ability to walk, sit and, eventually, swallow, have increasing difficulty communicating, and/or become vulnerable to infections, especially pneumonia.

 

Agoraphobia = An anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives the environment to be unsafe with no easy way to get away. These situations can include open spaces, public transit, shopping malls, or simply being outside the home.

Amnesia = A deficit in memory caused by brain damage, disease, or psychological trauma. Amnesia can also be caused temporarily by the use of various sedatives

 

Aneurysms = Vessel wall dilations at risk of rupture.

 

Angiography = An injection of radio-opaque agent into the blood and use of an X-ray based techniques such as fluoroscopy.

 

Annual Incidence Rate = Recent epidemiological data from J.E. Arena. Mayo Clinic Proc. 2017;92(3):399-405 puts TGA annual incidence at 3.4 and 10.4/100,000.

 

Anterograde Amnesia = A loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia.

 

Anticonvulsant Therapy = Commonly known as antiepileptic drugs or as antiseizure drugs of the barbiturate class of mood stabilizers.

 

Antioxidant Defenses = Some antioxidant supplements may promote disease and increase mortality in humans under certain conditions. Hypothetically, free radicals induce an endogenous response that protects against exogenous radicals (and possibly other toxic compounds). Free radicals may increase life span. This increase may be prevented by antioxidants, providing direct evidence that toxic radicals may mitohormetically exert life-extending and health-promoting effects.

 

Aspartame = Has been found to be safe for human consumption by more than ninety countries worldwide, with FDA officials describing aspartame as "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved" and its safety as "clear cut", but has been the subject of several controversies, hoaxes and health scares.

 

Autographical Amnesia = A memory loss in the system consisting of episodes recollected from an individual's life, based on a combination of episodic (personal experiences and specific objects, people and events experienced at particular time and place) and semantic (general knowledge and facts about the world) memory.