Senile dementia

Companionship of old age is not always wisdom. Sometimes years are taken away from the person the most valuable - the mind and memory, making him completely helpless. A tool that would be able to maintain clarity of mind, until invented. Therefore, it will be useful for everyone to know what is senile dementia - its symptoms, treatment, how many live in such a state.

Reverse development: is it worth talking about such a problem?

Although many have heard about age-related dementia, it seems so scary and distant that they think about such a unit problem. Meanwhile, senile dementia (such a diagnosis is made to a person with senile "weakness of mind") is a frequent form of mental pathology. She suffers from 5 to 10% of people aged 65 years. Among patients, women predominate, their disease affects 2 times more often than men.

How long will the patient live?

How does senile dementia affect life expectancy? How much people live in such a state depends on the rate of disease progression and the accompanying symptoms that it causes (loss of orientation, forgetfulness, loss of self-care skills). Death is most often caused by intercurrent illness. From the initial symptoms of dementia to death, it can take 2-10 years.

Some patients live to the stage at which insanity develops. They are actually immobilized, indifferent, lie in the position of the embryo. It is impossible to communicate with them, they do not enter into voice contact. Only some biological needs remain intact. The disease is dangerous and has a very poor prognosis (it is completely impossible to cure it).

Dementia syndrome: what is it and why does it appear?

Dementia is a serious disorder of the central nervous system. It is caused by organic brain damage. Atrophy of the cortex develops, which causes pathological changes in the organ. Brain sizes are reduced to 1000 g (and less). The main symptom of dementia is a sharp decline in intellectual abilities, impoverishment of the entire mental sphere, and degradation of the personality.

Why do some old people get Nobel Prizes for scientific achievements, while others lose their mind? Doctors have not yet fully studied senile dementia, its symptoms, treatment, how many people live with it, and have not named its main cause. Presumably, the following factors play a negative role in this process:

• genetic predisposition. "Family dementia" is common;
• stroke, brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, Pick;
• secondary complications of infections, injuries, intoxications, hemodialysis, severe forms of hepatic and renal failure, thyroid disease;
• autoimmune diseases;
• alcohol addiction;
• in rare cases - viral encephalitis, chronic meningitis, AIDS.

Types and stages of the disease

The classification is based on the signs that appear to a large extent. According to this criterion, the following types of senile dementia are distinguished:

• partial Most disturbed memory and emotional sphere. The person quickly gets tired, is in constant depression;
• epileptic. The patient has a tendency to excessive detailing, he becomes vindictive and vindictive. The outlook is reduced, speech is impoverished;
• schizophrenic. A person becomes completely enclosed in himself, does not show emotions, loses touch with the world around him, activity sharply decreases.

During the course of the disease, there are 3 stages:

1. Easy Signs of mental degradation are noticeable, but the orientation in the environment is preserved, the patient is able to serve himself.
2. Average. A person needs additional supervision. Although he independently monitors his hygiene, he cannot use household appliances.
3. Heavy Requires constant care.

The trouble is coming: from the first to the final signs of dementia

The disease creeps in unnoticed and at first it is expressed in the fact that a person cannot remember where he put a thing, or what he was going to say or do. In the early stages, the character changes. A person becomes too stingy, stubborn, suspicious, heightened egoism develops. He ceases to be interested in what is happening in the world, gives up his passions, does not read, becomes sullen, he is constantly in a bad mood.

There is a failure in the rhythm of sleep and wakefulness, the ability to think in the abstract, to assimilate and to remember the new, is lost. A person cannot remember moments from the near past, although he remembers well what was long ago. Amnesia is progressing. In the later stages it seems to the patient that he is young, he loses his orientation in time, ceases to recognize himself in the mirror. Later there are delusions of persecution.

The disease affects the somatic condition: the patient looks older than his years, loses weight, he has high blood pressure and an unstable pulse. At the final stage, complete physical exhaustion and mental insanity ensue.

Diagnosis and treatment

Is it difficult to recognize senility? Symptoms and treatment can cause difficulties only at the onset of the disease. When clinical manifestations of dementia appear, the diagnosis is not difficult. The only examination method is head CT.

Today there is no effective therapy that helps overcome senile dementia. Treatment, drugs are selected depending on the stage of the disease. His goal is to support the work of the CAS and other vital organs. Vitamins are prescribed, heart.

In the early stages, drugs that improve cerebral circulation in senile dementia are shown. These are nootropic drugs such as Piracetam, Aminalon. Nitrazepam, Chlorprothixen is prescribed to improve sleep. When psychosis is detected, neuroleptics are prescribed to the patient - Eperapazin, Onapak, Chlorprothixen, antidepressants - Azafen, Pyrazidol.

There are no real methods of preventing dementia. In order to somehow reduce the risk that at the end of life you will overtake such a disease, try to timely treat diseases that lead to circulatory disorders in the brain, stop smoking and alcohol. Do intellectual activities - solve problems and crosswords, learn poems, move and watch the weight.