Senile dementia
Share
The natural processes of aging affect all organs of the human body, including the brain. Physiological changes in old age include some behavioral disorders, forgetfulness and character transformation. But in some cases, seemingly "harmless" symptoms indicate a serious disease - senile dementia. It is important to recognize these signs as early as possible and start fighting the condition, which can significantly reduce the quality of life for both the person from the "older generation" and their relatives.
It is important to remember that acquired dementia can develop at any age, so the term "senile dementia" ("senile") appeared, which implies characteristic changes in older people. They suffer from impaired cognitive abilities - memory, the ability to retain attention, to understand and analyze new information, to learn.
Dementia is believed to be the cause of most disabilities in the elderly and leads to dependence on caregivers.
The natural processes of aging affect all organs of the human body, including the brain. Physiological changes in old age include some behavioral disorders, forgetfulness and character transformation. But in some cases, seemingly "harmless" symptoms indicate a serious disease - senile dementia. It is important to recognize these signs as early as possible and start fighting the condition, which can significantly reduce the quality of life for both the person from the "older generation" and their relatives.
It is known that approximately two-thirds of Alzheimer's patients are women - this is because their average life expectancy is longer than men and they are subject to significant hormonal changes after the onset of menopause.
In the "rating" of causes of dementia in the first place is Alzheimer's disease - it accounts for up to 70% of all cases of the disease. At the same time, the exact causes of this pathology are still unknown - existing assumptions require convincing evidence. It is believed that in Alzheimer's disease there is an accumulation of a specific substance (tau-protein) in brain tissue, which can be caused by hereditary factors or acquired conditions.
The second position is occupied by disorders of vascular origin - acute and chronic types of cerebral circulation disorders.
Dementia can also develop as a consequence of:
There are risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing pathology in older age:
The exact causes that lead to the development of pathology are unknown. This means that the direct factors of changes in the human brain remain unknown. However, the processes that underlie the symptoms of the disease are studied at a sufficient level.
It has been proven that changes in muscle tone are most often caused by a decrease in dopamine levels. This hormone and neurotransmitter plays an important role in the transmission of excitation between nerve cells and keeps the deep (subcortical) structures of the brain active.
Parkinson's disease directly affects the metabolism of dopamine. When the pathology develops, there is a decrease in the number of cells responsible for the production of the neurotransmitter. They also produce a specific pigment of black color, so the accumulation of these cells is called "black substance".
Thus, the main defect at the biochemical level in Parkinson's disease is insufficient activity of dopamine in the subcortical structures of the brain. This is thought to be the direct cause of the development of motor and emotional disturbances.
In recent years, more and more theories have emerged that the cause of pathology of the structures of the substantia nigra may be genetically determined accumulation of specific intracellular proteins or oxidative processes in neurons.
Research on possible risk factors for Parkinson's disease do not reveal specific cause-and-effect relationships. It is known that hereditary predisposition is detected in only 5-10% of cases, and the role of stress, bad habits or pathologies of other organs remains uncertain.
It is only proven that most often the first signs of this disease occur in people over 50 years old. This is due to the natural processes of reducing the number of dopamine-producing neurons in the physiological aging of the body. But Parkinson's disease often debuts earlier: it is impossible to predict the timing of the pathology.
Another of the causes of vascular dementia is atherosclerotic damage to the arteries of cerebral structures and cerebral atherosclerosis. As a result of the accumulation of excessive cholesterol inside the vessels, their lumen narrows, and blood ceases to flow to the tissues of the nervous system in sufficient quantity - this leads to the death of neurons. The risk group includes patients with arterial hypertension and cholesterol metabolism disorders..
Also, cerebral vessels receive a high risk of damage in connection with diabetes mellitus - the disease leads to oxygen starvation and an imbalance of hormones, which eventually provokes a violation of blood flow.
In any case, impaired blood circulation in the brain is a dangerous situation that can at any time lead not only to dementia, but also to impairment of vital functions.
Dementia is a pathology that differs from natural changes in the speed of development of symptoms. The disease is characterized not just by minor changes in the pace of thinking and reaction to events, but by serious pathological signs:
Most often, patients begin to actively visit specialists only from the moment of the development of obvious signs of the disease - before that, the strange behavior of the person himself and his loved ones explain the age-related changes.
Therefore, it is important not to leave a person with such a diagnosis alone - he can involuntarily cause harm to himself or others.
Timely examination and competent treatment can "give" a person a few more years of full life, so it is important to suspect the diagnosis at an early stage.
"Alarming symptoms" that may indicate the formation of senile dementia:
To find the cause of dementia, as well as to determine the degree of disturbance of brain structures, additional laboratory and instrumental methods of examination are prescribed:
Also, specialists conduct differential diagnosis - exclude pseudodementia due to stress and depressive states.
In cases where brain disorders are caused by chronic pathologies of other organs and systems, doctors prescribe treatment regimens to correct these body functions.
To improve brain function and correct emotional disorders, the patient must constantly undergo such treatments as:
The main principles of reducing the risks of acquired dementia:
An important role in the process of prevention of dementia plays antioxidants - biologically active substances that prevent the development of pathological pathways of metabolism.
The most effective representatives of this category of dietary supplements are considered natural beneficial phospholipids - plasmalogens, as well as coenzyme Q10. Both components form the basis of the drug "Tamotsu" ("Tamotsu") - a unique means effective in preventing the progression of dementia.
Plasmalogens in large quantities are contained in brain cells and nerve fibers, so the loss of these structural elements over time leads to worsening degenerative processes. In the drug "Tamotsu" these useful phospholipids are presented in the form of scallop extract (Mizuhopecten yessoensis) - plasmalogens of marine origin are better absorbed by the human body.
The second active component of the product - coenzyme Q10 - plays an important role as a regulator of cellular respiration, forms immune response, improves saturation of cells with nutrients and prevents cardiovascular diseases. In combination, these antioxidants prevent brain deterioration and protect neurons from death, which is very important for preventing the progression of dementia and preserving cognitive abilities.
"Tamotsu" effectively fills the deficiency of active substances, replacing a large amount of seafood in the diet, and its use is safe - the drug has no side effects.
Dementia is a complex pathology, from which no person in old age is immune. For people with an increased risk of developing the disease, it is important to take care in advance of sufficient levels of antioxidants necessary to maintain normal neuronal function, as well as compensate for other body functions. This is important to prevent or delay the development of the disease, as well as to slow its progression.
With timely medical attention, a proper approach to health and support from loved ones, even in the situation of diagnosed senile dementia, it is possible to prolong and improve the quality of life.
What is dementia
By definition, this condition speaks to the impairment of the ability to think acquired in adulthood. This syndrome is manifested by memory loss, impaired concentration, perception of new information and even performance of habitual actions. According to WHO, there are almost 50 million people with this diagnosis in the world, and every year about 10 million new cases are added to this number. If the pathology continues to actively develop at this rate, by 2050 the number of elderly people with dementia will increase to 135 million.It is important to remember that acquired dementia can develop at any age, so the term "senile dementia" ("senile") appeared, which implies characteristic changes in older people. They suffer from impaired cognitive abilities - memory, the ability to retain attention, to understand and analyze new information, to learn.
Dementia is believed to be the cause of most disabilities in the elderly and leads to dependence on caregivers.
The natural processes of aging affect all organs of the human body, including the brain. Physiological changes in old age include some behavioral disorders, forgetfulness and character transformation. But in some cases, seemingly "harmless" symptoms indicate a serious disease - senile dementia. It is important to recognize these signs as early as possible and start fighting the condition, which can significantly reduce the quality of life for both the person from the "older generation" and their relatives.
It is known that approximately two-thirds of Alzheimer's patients are women - this is because their average life expectancy is longer than men and they are subject to significant hormonal changes after the onset of menopause.
Causes of the disease
The immediate cause of the disease is the death of neurons - brain cells. Most often this is caused by disturbances in their nutrition, toxic damage, hormonal imbalance and inflammatory processes.In the "rating" of causes of dementia in the first place is Alzheimer's disease - it accounts for up to 70% of all cases of the disease. At the same time, the exact causes of this pathology are still unknown - existing assumptions require convincing evidence. It is believed that in Alzheimer's disease there is an accumulation of a specific substance (tau-protein) in brain tissue, which can be caused by hereditary factors or acquired conditions.
The second position is occupied by disorders of vascular origin - acute and chronic types of cerebral circulation disorders.
Dementia can also develop as a consequence of:
- excessive alcohol consumption;
- benign or malignant brain tumors;
- craniocerebral traumas;
- endocrine diseases;
- meningitis, encephalitis.
There are risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing pathology in older age:
- hereditary predisposition;
- excessive body weight and obesity;
- increased content of "harmful" cholesterols in the blood;
- low level of estrogens in women;
- insufficiently high level of intellectual activity.
The exact causes that lead to the development of pathology are unknown. This means that the direct factors of changes in the human brain remain unknown. However, the processes that underlie the symptoms of the disease are studied at a sufficient level.
It has been proven that changes in muscle tone are most often caused by a decrease in dopamine levels. This hormone and neurotransmitter plays an important role in the transmission of excitation between nerve cells and keeps the deep (subcortical) structures of the brain active.
Parkinson's disease directly affects the metabolism of dopamine. When the pathology develops, there is a decrease in the number of cells responsible for the production of the neurotransmitter. They also produce a specific pigment of black color, so the accumulation of these cells is called "black substance".
Thus, the main defect at the biochemical level in Parkinson's disease is insufficient activity of dopamine in the subcortical structures of the brain. This is thought to be the direct cause of the development of motor and emotional disturbances.
In recent years, more and more theories have emerged that the cause of pathology of the structures of the substantia nigra may be genetically determined accumulation of specific intracellular proteins or oxidative processes in neurons.
Research on possible risk factors for Parkinson's disease do not reveal specific cause-and-effect relationships. It is known that hereditary predisposition is detected in only 5-10% of cases, and the role of stress, bad habits or pathologies of other organs remains uncertain.
It is only proven that most often the first signs of this disease occur in people over 50 years old. This is due to the natural processes of reducing the number of dopamine-producing neurons in the physiological aging of the body. But Parkinson's disease often debuts earlier: it is impossible to predict the timing of the pathology.
Alzheimer's disease
This disease is known to everyone as the main cause of memory loss in old age. Dementia of the Alzheimer's type is characterized by atrophic processes in neurons - the death of cells in the central nervous system. Scientists explain this by the accumulation of certain protein structures that interfere with transport processes within neurons and block the transmission of neuronal signals. As a result, brain cells are constantly dying, and the pace of these changes only increases over time. Alzheimer's disease leads not only to irreversible dementia but also to death, drastically shortening the life of patients.Vascular dementias
Most often this variant of pathology develops after a stroke - an acute violation of cerebral circulation. In the ischemic form of stroke, the vessel abruptly stops delivering blood to a certain area of the brain, as a result of which nerve cells die in this area. Hemorrhagic stroke is associated with a rupture of the vascular wall and hemorrhage into the brain - under the influence of excessive pressure of the hematoma, brain tissue also "dies off". In any variant of stroke, there is a high risk of irreversible changes - death of neurons of the pathologically altered area of the brain with loss of its function. Often the cessation of blood supply or, conversely, hemorrhages affect those areas of the cerebral cortex that are responsible for memory, attention and speech.Another of the causes of vascular dementia is atherosclerotic damage to the arteries of cerebral structures and cerebral atherosclerosis. As a result of the accumulation of excessive cholesterol inside the vessels, their lumen narrows, and blood ceases to flow to the tissues of the nervous system in sufficient quantity - this leads to the death of neurons. The risk group includes patients with arterial hypertension and cholesterol metabolism disorders..
Also, cerebral vessels receive a high risk of damage in connection with diabetes mellitus - the disease leads to oxygen starvation and an imbalance of hormones, which eventually provokes a violation of blood flow.
In any case, impaired blood circulation in the brain is a dangerous situation that can at any time lead not only to dementia, but also to impairment of vital functions.
Symptoms of senile dementia
But the change in the ability to think does not await every person who has crossed a certain age line - during life there is a sufficient number of neuronal connections to ensure that the loss of neurons has virtually no effect on the mental abilities of a person.Dementia is a pathology that differs from natural changes in the speed of development of symptoms. The disease is characterized not just by minor changes in the pace of thinking and reaction to events, but by serious pathological signs:
- memory disorders up to complete loss of the ability to remember information, recognize others and navigate in familiar surroundings;
- speech disorders in the form of aphasia - inability to pronounce words;
- loss of the ability to think critically;
- motor disorders;
- acute emotional reactions;
- distorted perception of reality up to the development of psychosis.
Most often, patients begin to actively visit specialists only from the moment of the development of obvious signs of the disease - before that, the strange behavior of the person himself and his loved ones explain the age-related changes.
Stages of senile dementia
Depending on the clinical picture, the following stages of severity of senile dementia are distinguished:- Mild. At this stage, disturbances in brain activity may already be noticeable, but the person still retains the ability to think. Despite the fact that the person's memory for current events is impaired, he or she can easily recall what happened many years ago. In extraneous help at a mild stage of dementia, a person practically does not need, but the progression of forgetfulness can already lead to unpleasant consequences. Also, as the signs of the disease develop, professional skills are disturbed, and eventually a person has to leave work.
- Moderate. Symptoms of dementia with time progress - memory "fails" more and more often, gradually losing interest in the world around and in oneself, losing self-care skills. Without help at this stage of the disease a person may even pose a danger to himself or others. Such patients' emotional state changes - irritability, gratuitous aggression appear, and the realization of their helplessness and dependence on others only worsens these signs. * Also, a person with moderate dementia has a high risk of developing depression, so loved ones should always be close by and watch for changes in their relative's behavior.
- Severe. This type of dementia is characterized by the need for constant supervision and care. The severity of symptoms progresses, the person's thinking is disturbed to such an extent that he or she loses the ability to perceive and reproduce information, to monitor himself or herself and to communicate with others. There is also an increased likelihood of impaired motor functions, so a person in the last stages of the disease must constantly be in the field of vision of relatives or caregivers.
Therefore, it is important not to leave a person with such a diagnosis alone - he can involuntarily cause harm to himself or others.
The first signs of senile dementia
One of the important and very difficult tasks is the early diagnosis of the disease. Although it is virtually impossible to stop the progression of the disease, it is possible to slow down the speed of transition between the stages of dementia and properly prepare the whole family for the upcoming trials.Timely examination and competent treatment can "give" a person a few more years of full life, so it is important to suspect the diagnosis at an early stage.
"Alarming symptoms" that may indicate the formation of senile dementia:
- sleep disturbances;
- uncomplicated headaches;
- absent-mindedness;
- forgetfulness of recent events;
- inability to remember the names of interlocutors;
- disorientation in space;
- slovenliness, unkemptness;
- narrowing of the mind;
- emotional fluctuations - frequent bad moods, irritability, tendency to aggressive reactions.
Diagnosis
The questions of determining the diagnosis and prescribing treatment for dementia are dealt with by neurologists and psychiatrists - doctors conduct a detailed collection of complaints and history of the disease, clarify the age of onset of symptoms and ask to remember in detail how exactly the development of the disease began. Then specialists ask patients to answer a number of special tests - take questionnaires, solve problems, tell about their associations or feelings.To find the cause of dementia, as well as to determine the degree of disturbance of brain structures, additional laboratory and instrumental methods of examination are prescribed:
- clinical blood and urine tests;
- biochemical blood analysis (with the obligatory determination of lipidogram - indicators of cholesterol metabolism);
- encephalography;
- ultrasound of cerebral vessels;
- Radiography;
- MRI - magnetic resonance tomography.
Also, specialists conduct differential diagnosis - exclude pseudodementia due to stress and depressive states.
Treatment
Effective ways of therapy of dementia at the moment there are no - all treatment options are aimed only at slowing the progression of the disease. If possible, first of all, experts insist on the exclusion of the factor that leads to the formation of dementia. For example, in dementia of toxic origin, a person needs to exclude the harmful effects of alcohol or other sources of poisonous influence.In cases where brain disorders are caused by chronic pathologies of other organs and systems, doctors prescribe treatment regimens to correct these body functions.
To improve brain function and correct emotional disorders, the patient must constantly undergo such treatments as:
- drug therapy;
- psychotherapy;
- sociotherapy.
Prevention
Ways to prevent senile dementia practically do not differ from the rules of a healthy lifestyle - there is no specific prevention of the disease.The main principles of reducing the risks of acquired dementia:
- refusal of bad habits - alcohol abuse, smoking;
- regular motor activity;
- work with stress;
- control of the work of all body systems;
- normalization of nutrition - a diet high in vegetable components, fiber, seafood with a high content of antioxidants and a minimum amount of cholesterol.
Tamotsu - a source of essential active substances for the prevention of dementia.
An important role in the process of prevention of dementia plays antioxidants - biologically active substances that prevent the development of pathological pathways of metabolism.
The most effective representatives of this category of dietary supplements are considered natural beneficial phospholipids - plasmalogens, as well as coenzyme Q10. Both components form the basis of the drug "Tamotsu" ("Tamotsu") - a unique means effective in preventing the progression of dementia.
Plasmalogens in large quantities are contained in brain cells and nerve fibers, so the loss of these structural elements over time leads to worsening degenerative processes. In the drug "Tamotsu" these useful phospholipids are presented in the form of scallop extract (Mizuhopecten yessoensis) - plasmalogens of marine origin are better absorbed by the human body.
The second active component of the product - coenzyme Q10 - plays an important role as a regulator of cellular respiration, forms immune response, improves saturation of cells with nutrients and prevents cardiovascular diseases. In combination, these antioxidants prevent brain deterioration and protect neurons from death, which is very important for preventing the progression of dementia and preserving cognitive abilities.
"Tamotsu" effectively fills the deficiency of active substances, replacing a large amount of seafood in the diet, and its use is safe - the drug has no side effects.
Dementia is a complex pathology, from which no person in old age is immune. For people with an increased risk of developing the disease, it is important to take care in advance of sufficient levels of antioxidants necessary to maintain normal neuronal function, as well as compensate for other body functions. This is important to prevent or delay the development of the disease, as well as to slow its progression.
With timely medical attention, a proper approach to health and support from loved ones, even in the situation of diagnosed senile dementia, it is possible to prolong and improve the quality of life.