What is dementia, what are the manifestations of this disease and how to treat it? Another name for this ailment is dementia, which covers a large group of symptoms. These manifestations affect the intellectual and social abilities of patients, seriously affecting their daily lives. Today we find out what constitutes senile dementia, symptoms, treatment of this ailment. And also we will help you figure out how to behave with such a person, how you can help him and what it is advisable to protect against.
Symptoms depending on the stage of the disease
To understand what dementia is, you need to find out what are the manifestations of this disease. Depending on the period of development of the disease, the symptoms are of the following nature:
At stage 1, the symptoms of the disease are:
- distraction.
- Loss of time.
- Loss of orientation in the usual place.
At stage 2, the symptoms of dementia are as follows:
- Loss of memory in relation to even those events that occurred recently.
- Loss of orientation.
- Difficulty in communication.
- Helplessness (a person cannot serve himself: to get dressed, eat, etc.).
Senile dementia, signs of her in the third stage are of the following nature:
- There is a violation and loss of orientation in time, as well as in space.
- A person ceases to recognize even the closest people.
- He stops doing basic things about himself (getting dressed, eating, etc.).
- The affected person cannot move independently.
- He has urinary and fecal incontinence.
- There is a behavior unusual for an ordinary elderly person (aggressiveness, seizures of rage, nervousness).
Disease recognition
When the first symptoms of impaired memory, attention, and behavior appear, one should hurry to a specialist who will give directions for a series of tests to exclude a disease called dementia. Diagnosis of the ailment consists in performing procedures such as:
- CT scan.
- Radioisotope check of the brain.
- The electroencephalogram is a method for studying the electrical activity of the brain.
- Checking blood vessels.
- Bacteriological examination of cerebrospinal fluid - a fluid circulating in the ventricles of the brain.
- A brain biopsy.
- General analysis of blood and urine.
- Inspection of a neurologist, psychiatrist, ophthalmologist.
Types and types of disease
There are two forms of dementia:
- Total.
- Partial
The second point is characterized by serious deviations in the process of short-term memory, at the same time, emotional changes are not particularly pronounced. Only tearfulness and excessive sensitivity are observed.
Total dementia is characterized by complete personality degradation. A person is disturbed by the intellectual, cognitive, emotional sphere of life, his feelings and emotions change radically. For example, the patient disappears feeling of shame, duty, vital interests and spiritual values disappear.
Now we turn to the categories of the disease, in this case, brain dementia is divided into:
- Atrophic type of disease (these are Alzheimer's and Peak's diseases). It occurs against the background of primary degenerative reactions that occur in the central nervous system cells.
- Vascular dementia develops due to irregular circulation in the vascular system of the brain.
- A mixed-type disease is a combination of the first two types of disease.
Causes of occurrence
The problems of dementia have been studied for a long time, but still some people do not know that this disease is not at all an effect on a person of evil spirits (as individuals say). Also, people do not understand the risk factors for this ailment, saying that it is just old age. However, this is not at all true. Dementia develops as a result of certain circumstances. The causes of this ailment are as follows:
- Heredity.
- The presence of pathologies that lead to the death or degeneration of brain cells.
- Injuries to the skull.
- A tumor in the brain.
- Alcoholism.
- Multiple sclerosis.
- Viral encephalitis.
- Chronic meningitis.
- Neurosyphilis.
Peak Disease
Another name for the disease - frontal dementia suggests the presence of degenerative abnormalities that affect the temporal and frontal parts of the brain. In 50% of cases, Peak's disease appears due to a genetic factor. The onset of the disease is characterized by such changes as:
- passivity and isolation from society;
- silence;
- apathy;
- ignoring standards of decency;
- sexual immorality;
- urinary incontinence;
- bulimia - a mental disorder associated with eating. This ailment is characterized by a sharp increase in appetite, which begins with a painful hunger.
People who were struck by this ailment live no more than 10 years. They die from immobility or the development of a genitourinary, pulmonary infection.
Alcohol dementia: features
This type of dementia occurs as a result of prolonged exposure to alcohol in the brain (for 15–20 years). The state of alcoholic dementia may worsen after the patient completely abandons strong drinks. This type of dementia occurs in older people who regularly drink alcohol. The amount of consumption usually increases from four glasses of wine per week to an unlimited amount per day. With alcoholic dementia, the patient has various mental disorders, including psychosis, depression, anxiety, apathy. There is also a lack of sleep, night confusion, irritability, anxiety. If a person is not stopped in time and treatment is not started, then a stroke may occur. Therefore, it is necessary in this case not to start the disease and not to ignore the patient.
Treatment of ailment
To date, scientists have not created that miracle pill that could cure the disease. What is dementia, know firsthand 35 million families around the world. That is how many patients were counted by the World Health Organization. But still it is possible to improve the condition of the affected person, knowing and strictly following the following points:
- Providing care, maintaining safety in relation to this category of persons.
- Identification and timely treatment of concomitant diseases.
- Not belated detection and correction of mental disorders and sleep disorders.
- Drug therapy.
Alzheimer's disease medication treatment, for example, includes pills such as Amiridin, Memantine, Seleginil. And for the treatment of vascular dementia, such solutions as Galantamine, Nicergoline are used.
To prevent stroke, as a possible cause of dementia, the doctor may prescribe anti-thrombosis drugs that lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol. Also, the specialist prescribes medications so that the patient sleeps better. And with behavioral disorders, the doctor may prescribe sedatives, antidepressants, etc.
The treatment of dementia, therefore, is aimed at eliminating the symptoms of the disease, improving memory, mental abilities, motor functions.
Prevention
What is dementia, we found out, now is the time to find out about measures to prevent the development of this ailment:
- Compliance with a healthy lifestyle, without drinking alcohol.
- It is necessary to carry out mental exercises daily (solving crosswords, puzzles, reading a book and further discussing it, etc.)
- Normal recovery after a stroke, encephalitis and other diseases, after which dementia can develop.
- Timely treatment of diseases of the internal organs in the elderly.
- Mandatory control of blood glucose levels.
- Prevention of the appearance of atherosclerosis (good nutrition and annual lipid profile determination - venous blood test).
- Work in a non-toxic environment.
- Blood cholesterol control.
- To give up smoking.
but it is a mistake to believe that, by fulfilling all the above points, this disease will not begin. Dementia, to a greater degree, has a hereditary factor, because many diseases can be transmitted from generation to generation and they can cause dementia. Therefore, you need to know how to behave in relation to the affected person and what you should pay attention to.
Tips for patients and their close relatives
Senile dementia, the signs of which pass from one stage to another, thus progressing, should be adequately perceived by the relatives of the sick person. And for this it is necessary to help his affected relative, improve his quality of life, as well as safety. You can use the following tips:
1. Prepare a patient care plan. Such a task must be carried out and for oneself to understand what are the goals of supervision of the elderly. To create such a plan, you need to consult with doctors, lawyers, and other family members. Here are the main points that a relative should answer:
- What is the prognosis of treatment? What to expect from such therapy?
- Does a person need to care for him, or can he live alone?
- Which of the family members will be the main responsible for the patient?
- Is there a need to help a person eat, drink medicine, take a bath?
- Is it necessary to install safety devices in the house where the patient is located (for example, put soft devices on the corners of furniture, buy a special bed, make locks on windows, mount CCTV cameras, etc.)?
- Is it necessary to restrict a person from driving a car?
- What are the wishes of the patient himself about his treatment and care for him?
2. Get a special calendar for every day.
In such a diary, it will be necessary to note all types of activities that the affected person can forget about, including brushing your teeth. And opposite each item, you will need to tick off what has been completed. Close people can thus check on the calendar everything that the patient does, and he, in turn, will be better oriented in everyday affairs and worries.
3. Keep order and invariability of a house circle of persons.
A constant, quiet and familiar environment will eliminate the feeling of anxiety, excitement, confusion. But new situations, things and orders will only interfere with patients with dementia, and then they will learn poorly and remember new things for them.
4. Lay the affected person on time to sleep.
The actions and actions of older people may worsen in the evening due to fatigue or, for example, due to anxiety, anxiety caused by diminished lighting. Therefore, people caring for the patient are required to introduce a clear procedure for timely night rest. This requires taking the patient away from the TV or active family members. It is forbidden to give an elderly person coffee, especially in the afternoon.
Sad experiences of people regarding patient care
People who personally faced the problem, saw and looked after a sick family member, often share their feelings and emotional impulses on the Internet. It is unusual and very scary to see how an adult, successful person turns into a child who is not responsible for his words or actions. Therefore, many people support each other, share their experience in the treatment and prevention of a disease such as dementia. The reviews of people who had to be near a demented person on the forums say that it is very difficult to control yourself when a native, but at the same time a stranger, is nearby. Some pour out their souls, they cry and weep because their sick grandfather, grandmother, mother, and father overtook this ailment. However, they still care for their beloved relatives and do not lose hope that they will feel better. And this is a completely normal reaction, because everyone wants their loved ones to be healthy and happy. But there are also negative reviews, which are directly unpleasant and abusive. People simply can not stand such a fate of their relative, they are already waiting and will not wait for his death to remove such a burden.
But this is fundamentally wrong. After all, the patient is not to blame for the fact that he became a victim of such an ailment as dementia. Therefore, the task of loved ones is to treat such mental changes with understanding, you cannot argue and scold a weak-minded person, it is also important to control his behavior. It must be remembered that he is not aware of his actions and words, therefore, he does not need to prove anything to him, to assure in something, and even more offended. Also, relatives at the first symptoms of an illness must necessarily show their affected family member to doctors. And experts will help to choose drugs that would improve metabolic processes in the brain, and due to this, the ailment will not worsen.
I would like to wish the family and friends who have such patients in their hands, patience, calmness and understanding. We need to communicate more often with a demented person, because he needs verbal communication. It is good if the whole family will support the one who provides full care for the patient, as well as who is actually affected, and will also help and control his behavior.
Now you know what constitutes senile dementia, symptoms, treatment of dementia in elderly people. It was determined that if a person has the primary signs of the disease, then one should not put off going to specialists for a long box, otherwise the ailment will only progress. And at the first stage of ailments, doctors will be able to help the patient as much as possible by prescribing medications that improve memory and metabolic processes in the brain. It is also important to properly care for such a family member, because he obviously will not help himself in this situation.