A Simple Guide To Anosognosia, (Lack of Awareness) Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Anosognosia (Lack of Awareness), Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

You may have read that the psychologist Mary Trump (Donald Trump’s niece) uses the word Anosognosia in her book about her uncle “Too Much and Never Enough”.
It often happens in people with schizophrenia, bipolar disease, dementia and stroke.

Anosognosia is the inability or refusal to recognize a defect or disorder that is evident.
People do not always feel comfortable admitting to themselves or others that they have a disorder they have been newly diagnosed with.

This is not abnormal and most people ultimately accept the diagnosis.

But occasionally, the rejection is long-lasting

It is not simply denial that is producing a person to reject the facts.

It is a disorder called anosognosia.

This roughly means “lack of awareness or insight” in Greek.

Anosognosia is a lack of ability to perceive the realities of one’s own disorder.

It is a person’s inability to accept that they have a disorder that matches up with their symptoms or a formal diagnosis.

This happens in spite of significant evidence of a diagnosis, and in spite of second and even third medical beliefs confirming the validity of a diagnosis.

Anosognosia is an effect of alterations to the brain.

It is not just obstinacy or total denial, which is a defense mechanism some people use when they acquire a difficult diagnosis to cope with.

In fact, anosognosia is central in disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Cause

Comparatively little has been found about the cause of the disorder since its initial identification.

Anosognosia develops from the physiological damage to brain structures, normally to the parietal lobe or a diffuse lesion on the fronto-temporal-parietal region in the right hemisphere

It is thus a neuropsychiatric disorder.

The perception of a person changes throughout the life.

When a patient has a new scar on the face, his or her brain needs to take it into account so that the patient remembers it is there when the patient looks in the mirror.

The frontal lobe is heavily affected in this continual process of reshaping the self-image.

Some mental health disorders can produce alterations in this part of the brain.

This produces frontal lobe tissue remodeling over time.

Ultimately, the patient may lose the ability to take in new information and renew the perception of the overall health.

Since the brain cannot grasp the newer information resulting from the disorder, the patient or the loved ones can become frustrated that the patient appears not to be taking the disorder seriously.

Risk factors

Anosognosia is frequent in people with serious mental illness.

Doctors think about 40% people with bipolar disorder and 50% with schizophrenia have it.

Some doctors believe the numbers are even greater.

They evaluate that anywhere from 57%-98% of people with schizophrenia have it.

Many people with neurological disorders have this disease.

It is not abnormal for some person with Alzheimer's to get it.

Stroke patients often get it too.

Anosognosia treatment involves treating the underlying cause.

Studies indicate that about 33% of people with schizophrenia improve in consciousness of their illness when they take antipsychotic medicine.

Studies also indicate that a larger percentage of people with bipolar disorder improve on medicine.

Most instances of anosognosia seem to simply disappear over time, while other instances can persist indefinitely.

Normally, the long-term patients are treated with cognitive therapy to train patients to adapt for their deficits

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Anosognosia
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Jan 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005147945

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

To

Anosognosia,

(Lack of Awareness)

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2021 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Anosognosia (Lack of Awareness), Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Anosognosia)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Anosognosia

You may have read that the psychologist Mary Trump (Donald Trump’s niece) uses the word Anosognosia in her book about her uncle Too Much and Never Enough.

It often happens in people with schizophrenia, bipolar disease, dementia and stroke.

What is Anosognosia?

Anosognosia is the inability or refusal to recognize a defect or disorder that is evident.

People do not always feel comfortable admitting to themselves or others that they have a disorder they have been newly diagnosed with.

This is not abnormal and most people ultimately accept the diagnosis.

But occasionally, the rejection is long-lasting

It is not simply denial that is producing a person to reject the facts.

It is a disorder called anosognosia.

This roughly means lack of awareness or insight in Greek.

Anosognosia is a lack of ability to perceive the realities of one’s own disorder.

It is a person’s inability to accept that they have a disorder that matches up with their symptoms or a formal diagnosis.

This happens in spite of significant evidence of a diagnosis, and in spite of second and even third medical beliefs confirming the validity of a diagnosis.

Anosognosia is an effect of alterations to the brain.

It is not just obstinacy or total denial, which is a defense mechanism some people use when they acquire a difficult diagnosis to cope with.

In fact, anosognosia is central in disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

What is the cause of Anosognosia?

Cause

Comparatively little has been found about the cause of the disorder since its initial identification.

Anosognosia develops from the physiological damage to brain structures, normally to the parietal lobe or a diffuse lesion on the fronto-temporal-parietal region in the right hemisphere

It is thus a neuropsychiatric disorder.

The perception of a person changes throughout the life.

The patient who just got married may feel reassured now that he or she has finally tied the knot with someone he or she loves.

When a patient has a new scar on the face, his or her brain needs to take it into account so that the patient remembers it is there when the patient looks in the mirror.

The frontal lobe is heavily affected in this continual process of reshaping the self-image.

Some mental health disorders can produce alterations in this part of the brain.

This produces frontal lobe tissue