2006 Volume 26 Issue 2 Pages 180-188
A case of aphasia with cognitive dysfunctions was studied with respect to the process of managing diabetes mellitus (DM) with self-injections of insulin. The patient, a 73-year-old, right-handed woman who had left her DM untreated for 10 years, suffered from a cerebral infarction immediately after an operation for aortic dissection. Self-management of DM was initiated three months after her stroke. Problems were poor understanding of her disease and severe communication disorder affiliated with higher brain dysfunctions including aphasia. Education concerning DM and technical guidance in insulin self-injections over a period of about one month resulted in her returning home with successful acquisition of insulin self-injection capability. This study indicates that in order to obtain independent management of insulin injections by patients with cognitive dysfunctions, medical treatment providers need to deal with patients according to their individual abilities relying on shared knowledge about higher brain dysfunctions.
