Grade 3 dyscirculatory encephalopathy: how much can you live? Discirculatory encephalopathy: signs, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

The most serious disease is associated with damage to the vessels of the brain. The sooner symptoms are noticed, the more likely it is to slow down the process.

What to look for

So, you noticed the strange behavior of loved ones: the destruction of social skills, sloppiness, speech impairment - this can signal a very serious illness. In some cases, if you hesitate to contact a neurologist, you will receive a diagnosis of grade 3 dyscirculatory encephalopathy.

How much you can live with him, no doctor will say for sure. A disease has the ability to progress over time.

Dyscirculatory encephalopathy is a chronic damage to brain cells caused by various factors. The disease is divided into three stages. Each period is characterized by its symptoms. There is also a differentiation of the disease by species. The most dangerous is discirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree. It is hard to say how long you can live with such a diagnosis. The disease lasts from a few months to five years.

Types of disease

Depending on the cause, the disease is divided into several varieties:

1. Atherosclerotic - caused by damage to the main vessels of the brain. It occurs most often.
2. Venous - associated with obstructed outflow of venous blood from the brain. Stagnation causes compression of the veins, as a result, the outflow becomes even more difficult, brain activity is inhibited due to the resulting edema.
   
3. Hypertensive - occurs already at a young age and occurs in periods when blood pressure rises. After the crisis passes, brain functions return to normal. In this case, frequent hypertensive crises significantly worsen the patient's condition, and the disease progresses. Frequent jumps in blood pressure in combination with a diagnosis of “grade 3 discirculatory encephalopathy” make the prognosis of a patient's life very poor.
4. Mixed - the patient may have venous or atherosclerotic discirculatory encephalopathy. Moreover, the disease is constantly aggravated by hypertensive crises. Grade 3 dyscirculatory encephalopathy is particularly difficult to treat, since neurological disorders become more apparent.

Causes of Discirculatory Encephalopathy

A mass of vascular disorders can cause a diagnosis of grade 3 dyscirculatory encephalopathy. The prognosis is extremely disappointing. It is very important to prevent its onset.

• Arterial hypertension is an increase in blood pressure.
• Atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels - a violation of the functioning of the arteries.
• The simultaneous presence of atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension.
• Inflammatory processes - vasculitis of various origins.

Contribute to the progression of the disease: alcoholism, advanced osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, chronic stress and strain.

First stage of the disease

The first stage proceeds unnoticed, and the symptoms can be confused with other diseases, the consequences of injuries.

Characteristic:

• A noise in the head.
• Dizziness.
• Headache.
• Sleep disturbances, insomnia, dysaniasis (weakness, poor health upon waking up, it is difficult to get out of bed).
• Memory impairment, distraction.
• Decrease in cognitive activity.
• The appearance of instability when walking, the stiffness of movements.

Disease development

The second stage of the disease is characterized by visible mental disorders, behind which is a violation of the brain. Patients experience frequent attacks of hypochondria, depression. From the outside it seems that the character of the patient is deteriorating. The sick person is trying to adapt, shift the blame on others. Characteristic manifestations:

• Impaired attention.
• Significant memory impairment.
• Violation of self-control.
• Pseudobulbar syndrome - difficulty swallowing food.
• Irritability, frequent mood swings.
• Depressive conditions.

The disease suggests a disability, but the patient is still able to take care of himself. Based on the above symptoms, of course, the diagnosis is not made: 3 degree discirculatory encephalopathy. How much you can live, they will not answer you either. Violations at this stage may coincide with other vascular diseases. In any case, you need to identify their cause. A comprehensive examination using modern technology is required.

Dyscirculatory encephalopathy 3 degrees. Symptoms

The third stage of the disease is the transition of the disease to the phase of vascular dementia. The patient loses the ability to self-service and self-control. At this stage, the following may occur:

• Significant impaired motor activity.
• Incontinence.
• Tremor in the arms and legs, trembling head (parkinsonism).
• Disinhibition.
• Severe dementia.
• Loss of social skills, difficulty speaking.

At this stage, the patient is completely dependent on the people around him, needs continuous care and control.

The question of whether grade 3 dyscirculatory encephalopathy will lead to disability remains an open question. A patient with a complex of cardiovascular diseases may not survive to this stage.

Diagnostics

Dyscirculatory encephalopathy can make a person completely incompetent. The development of the disease is extremely difficult to predict. Deterioration can occur quickly enough, so that loved ones will not notice the passage of one of the stages. Also, the patient can hold out in one condition for a long time. The duration of the next period can be calculated using the patient's age and stage of the disease. But to identify the first phase is quite difficult. A single medical history is not enough. Special studies are needed.

To make a final diagnosis, a specialist fixes:

1. Violations of a neurological nature, the dynamics of these disorders. The assessment is made by a neuropathologist on the basis of a medical history, a check of reflexes, and a survey of loved ones.
2. Assessment of the patient’s neuropsychic state is also performed by a neurologist or psychiatrist. It is necessary to identify serious mental disorders caused by the disease. The doctor determines the patient’s ability to focus, orient in time and space, and the ability to respond to criticism. Speech is tested, vision is tested.
3. REG (Reoencephalography) allows you to assess the state of the vessels of the brain, their fullness and tone of the vascular walls.
4. Typical changes in cerebral vessels detected on a CT scan. The degree of brain damage, stage and assessment of the possibility of remission is determined.
5. Changes in cerebral vessels recorded by ultrasound dopplerography also reflect the state of the vessels. The study reveals blood clots and clogged vessels.
6. Changes in the patient’s blood may indicate increased coagulability, as an additional risk for blood vessels.

The final verdict is: grade 3 dyscirculatory encephalopathy. How long can you live with such a disease? It is impossible to determine. Most often, such a diagnosis is made to very elderly people.

Treatment of discirculatory encephalopathy

In addition to analyzes, an assessment of the patient's condition is made, the stage and pace of the development of the disease, as well as its type, are revealed. Only after this treatment is prescribed.

With the hypertensive type of the disease, drugs that lower blood pressure are prescribed. This prevents new attacks, and the disease goes into remission. Pressure must be reduced smoothly and not allowed to fluctuate. With atherosclerotic discirculatory encephalopathy, lipodemic therapy is used, which reduces the rate of progression of atherosclerosis as the main source of the disease. With mixed types of the disease, treatment of atherosclerosis is also very important. The third type of treatment is the support of neurons and the restoration of brain functions.

In the first two stages of the disease, the onset of remission after drug treatment is quite real.

Surgery

Surgery is sometimes required to repair or clean the vessel. The operation is complex and requires a long rehabilitation, but part of the brain functions can be restored. However, without treatment of the underlying disease, such an intervention is impractical.

After stenosis of the vessels of the brain, it is necessary to constantly be observed by a neurologist, undergo examinations. The operation does not cancel the medical treatment and compliance with all the recommendations of the doctor.

Disease prevention

A healthy lifestyle is an integral part of health care. By following a diet, leading an active lifestyle, you will maximally delay the moment of the onset of mental disorders. If discirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree is detected, decompensation by surgical intervention will not improve the patient's position. If your blood relatives have had high blood pressure and vascular diseases, you need to be regularly examined by a neurologist, regardless of whether any close relatives have revealed discirculatory encephalopathy. It is necessary to evaluate your condition with the help of doctors, even if no symptoms are observed yet.