Encephalopathy of the brain is a combination of various pathologies of cerebral tissues, which are characterized by their dystrophic damage. They are congenital or acquired. The presented ailment is organic and gradually progresses. If treatment is not started in a timely manner, the patient will become disabled.
Development reasons
Encephalopathy of the brain is considered a serious systemic violation of the functionality of tissues associated with their organic damage. Such reasons can provoke her:
- Regular intoxication of the body with chemicals, drugs, alcohol.
- Atherosclerosis of cerebral blood vessels, skull injuries with penetration into the brain.
- Intrauterine infection.
- Lack of liver or kidney function.
- Problems with blood vessels arising from diabetes.
- An acute lack of nutrients and vitamins in the body.
- Circulatory problems.
- Violation of the functionality of the endocrine system.
- Hypoxia of brain tissue.
- Radiation exposure.
Most often, pathology develops in people of advanced age. If brain encephalopathy is diagnosed in young children, this is due to a severe pregnancy or a difficult birth in the mother. Timely detection of the disease, as well as its proper treatment will avoid negative consequences.
Disease classification
Encephalopathy of the brain is different. Depending on the cause that caused the lesion, these types of changes in the tissues are distinguished:
- Encephalopathy. It develops due to a violation of the microcirculation of the blood. The presented pathology is atherosclerotic, venous and hypertonic. Organic change in the cerebral cortex is slow. In a patient, symptoms in this case do not appear for years.
- Toxic The impetus for such a pathology is the strong intoxication of the body with drugs, training, and constant work with chemical reagents. Alcohol encephalopathy can also be attributed to this category.
- Metabolic. Damage to brain tissue occurs as a result of metabolic disorders. With such a disease, atrophic changes develop rapidly. This type of organic brain damage is diagnosed in people with excessive body weight, diabetics, patients with atherosclerosis of blood vessels.
- Traumatic. Its cause is a concussion or traumatic brain injury. In addition, cervical osteochondrosis can accelerate the development of pathology. In children, post-traumatic encephalopathy is the result of a complicated birth.
- Infectious. Pathological damage to the soft tissues of the body occurs under the influence of various pathogens. If this form of the disease is not treated on time, then it has an extremely negative prognosis.
- Senile. Such encephalopathy develops as a result of age-related degenerative degenerative changes in the brain tissue.
In addition, encephalopathy of the brain (which is an adult's understanding) is acquired and congenital.
Symptoms of the disease
Symptoms of brain encephalopathy depend on its shape. Acquired disease is characterized by such manifestations:
- Impaired memory function.
- Problems with concentration of attention (a person is not able to navigate events, becomes absent-minded).
- Violation of the emotional sphere: the patient's mood quickly changes, he becomes more irritable, tearful.
- Dizziness.
- A headache that can be localized in any part of the head.
- Violations of fine motor skills, as well as the innervation of limbs.
- Tremor of the hands.
- Fatigue.
- Noise in the head.
- Loss of consciousness.
The symptoms of congenital type brain encephalopathy are bright enough, but in order to make such a diagnosis, the child needs to conduct a differential examination.
In children, cramps can occur with an increase in body temperature. Kids who have received organic brain damage do not sleep normally, often spit up and cry constantly. The work of internal organs slows down, problems with the digestive tract appear, and thermoregulation suffers.
The degree of development of pathology
The presented disease develops gradually, over the years. The following degrees of brain encephalopathy can be distinguished:
- First one. At this stage, organic damage to the brain is not so severe, so there are no clinical manifestations. It is very difficult to diagnose a pathology and it turns out quite by accident with an instrumental study.
- Encephalopathy of the brain 2 degrees. There is a moderate development of pathology. Symptoms are intermittent, it appears and disappears depending on the situation. At this stage, the disease is difficult to determine in older people. The fact is that the symptoms: fatigue, memory impairment, dizziness, as well as other signs can talk about age-related degenerative processes. At this stage, differential diagnosis is important.
- The third. It is characterized by progressive encephalopathy. In the absence of effective treatment, it leads to disability. Among the symptoms, convulsions, paresis or paralysis of limbs, neurological disorders can be distinguished. The patient has emotional problems. Over time, the disease becomes severe, characterized by depression and senile dementia.
At any stage of the development of the disease, instrumental diagnosis is important. Laboratory tests to determine the pathology will be uninformative.
Diagnostic Features
Before prescribing treatment for brain encephalopathy, the patient undergoes a set of diagnostic measures. It includes:
- Clinical general and biochemical blood and urine tests. Additionally, the level of glucose in the body is determined. The results of this study will allow you to see metabolic disorders.
- Ultrasound of arteries located on the neck. Thanks to the procedure, their patency is evaluated.
- Transcranial Doppler. She shows blood circulation inside the cranium. This method is safe and very informative. Using this technique, carotid, vertebral arteries are studied.
- Magnetic resonance urography (MRI). Thanks to such a study, a specialist has the opportunity to study the structure of brain tissue in layers, determine the negative changes in them, the presence of blood clots. This technique allows you to establish the possible causes of the development of encephalopathy: tumor processes, cysts.
- Rheoencephalography. The study is conducted to determine the condition of the vascular walls.
- Electroencephalography. Thanks to the technique, the doctor receives data on the functionality of the brain.
- CT scan. This method of diagnosing brain encephalopathy in the elderly is used if the patient has a suspicion of its external form. For research, you may need to introduce a special marker.
- Angiography of blood vessels using a contrast agent.
In order to maintain high-quality health, you need to fight not only with the symptoms and consequences of pathology, but also try to eliminate the cause itself and its development. Additionally, a specialist can prescribe a person neurological tests, reflex tests, coordination of movements. An assessment of the mental state of the patient is also performed.
Drug treatment
Treatment of brain encephalopathy in elderly patients in most cases does not require hospitalization. But the neglected stages of the pathology can not always be eliminated at home. If a person has an acute form of the disease, in which there is a risk of stroke, heart attack or severe somatic disorders, it must be hospitalized in a hospital.
However, for the patient this can become an additional negative factor that violates the emotional and physical state, therefore, it is necessary to act very carefully in this case.
Treatment of brain encephalopathy should be comprehensive. It includes not only the use of medications, but also a change in lifestyle. The following groups of drugs can be prescribed to the patient:
- Nootropics: Cerebrolysin, Nootropil.
- Drugs that improve blood circulation in the brain: Cinnarizine, Caviton.
- Antihypertensive (if the patient has a jump in blood pressure).
- Hypolipidemic agents: Clofibrate. They are prescribed whether a person is diagnosed with atherosclerosis.
- Antioxidants: Thiotriazolin.
- Soothing medicines: "Glycised", "Novopassit".
- Diuretics. Such drugs help to reduce swelling in the acute form of pathology.
- Vitamin preparations and biostimulants. They provide an opportunity to accelerate the process of tissue repair.
- In some cases, a percentage needs seizure relievers: Diazepam.
Additionally, physiotherapeutic procedures are prescribed for a person: magnetic therapy, electrophoresis, ultrasound therapy, ozone therapy, acupuncture. Such procedures can not only get rid of symptoms, but also accelerate the regeneration of damaged tissues. In order for the treatment process to be effective, it is necessary to eliminate all the negative factors that contribute to the development of organic brain damage.
Alternative treatment
To eliminate the signs of brain encephalopathy, folk recipes will also help. However, their use must be agreed with the doctor. Alternative treatment cannot be considered the only possible way out of pathology. It only reinforces conservative therapy. Self-treatment is fraught with grave consequences: from disability to death. Such recipes will be useful:
- Rosehip broth. Fresh or dry berries are poured into a thermos and poured with boiling water. It will take 2 tbsp. l fruits and half a liter of water. The drink should be consumed daily. To improve the taste of the liquid, you can add a little honey to it.
- Infusion of hawthorn. Dry raw materials are poured into an enameled pan and poured with hot water for 12 hours. Fresh berries, which can be simply eaten, also have a good effect.
- Propolis. It is necessary to fill in 100 g of raw materials with one liter of vodka and insist for 10 days. Liquid should be consumed in 1 tsp. before eating. Previously, the product is allowed to be diluted with a similar amount of water.
- A mixture of motherwort, lingonberry leaves, valerian. Each component is taken in equal amounts. It will take 1 tbsp. l mixtures and 200 ml of boiling water. Such a medicine is suitable for the treatment of encephalopathy in young children. Giving them one dessert spoon 3 times a day.
- Infusion of clover flowers. It is effective for the treatment of brain encephalopathy in older adults, as it allows you to get rid of tinnitus. For cooking, take 2 tbsp. l raw materials and poured 300 ml of boiled water. For insisting like 2 hours. You need to drink the medicine in half a glass before each meal.
Alternative therapy can enhance the results of drugs. However, before using it, one must take into account possible contraindications, the action of herbs, as well as side effects that can aggravate the patient's condition.
Nutrition for Encephalopathy
With brain encephalopathy, drug treatment is not the only way to combat the disease. The combined treatment regimen provides for a change in lifestyle and nutrition. Without this, improving the functionality of the organ will not work. In order to obtain a positive result, it is necessary to exclude from the patient’s diet:
- Foods containing saturated fats and high cholesterol.
- Salt.
- Flour products.
- Fried, smoked dishes and canned food.
Without fail, a person needs to abandon alcohol, which has a detrimental effect on blood vessels. It is also advisable to say goodbye to cigarettes. These bad habits lead to oxygen starvation of organ tissues, which is why necrotic foci appear in them.
To improve brain activity, it is necessary to consume vegetables and fruits, walnuts as much as possible. Also useful is low-fat fish, shrimp, corn, rice and peas, carrots, onions, tomatoes, citrus fruits, dairy products. All of them help cleanse the arteries, so blood circulation improves.
Complications
To understand the importance of proper therapy, it is necessary to find out what is dangerous brain encephalopathy. With prolonged progression of the disease, damaged tissue areas appear inside the organs, and they constantly expand. This situation negatively affects not only the patient’s well-being, but also his abilities. We can distinguish the following effects of brain encephalopathy:
- Impaired motor function. If at first the patient has tremor of the extremities, then over time he develops into convulsions. The patient simply can not move independently on the street and even at home. The last stages of the pathology include outside assistance to the victim.
- Speech problems. Subsequently, violations of mental functions in humans significantly reduced vocabulary. His mental activity is changing. It becomes difficult for the patient to do the most elementary mathematical calculations; he is not able to build cause-effect relationships.
- Impaired memory. A person cannot navigate in time and space, often forgets what happens to him, where he is.
Most of these consequences cannot be eliminated, the patient becomes disabled, so it is better not to allow them to appear at all.
Forecast and Prevention
The prognosis will be positive if the patient seeks a doctor in a timely manner and does not neglect his recommendations. There is no specific prophylaxis for brain encephalopathy. In order to reduce the likelihood of developing a congenital type of the disease, it is necessary to prevent any complications of pregnancy: oxygen starvation, preeclampsia, Rhesus conflict. Doctors are required to prevent birth injuries in the baby.
To avoid the acquired form, it is necessary to exclude the influence of any negative factors contributing to damage to brain tissue. Any inflammatory, infectious and viral processes in the body should be treated in time. Do not yourself use an excessive amount of medications, not following the instructions, and also without the knowledge of a doctor.
It is required to abandon bad habits, in particular the use of alcohol and smoking. Proper nutrition plays an important role in the prevention of encephalopathy. The diet should include foods that are easily digested, contain a large amount of nutrients. Do not abuse cholesterol-containing foods.
To prevent diseases associated with circulatory disorders, it is necessary to prevent the development of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. To do this, do gymnastics daily, as well as massage the specified area.
Encephalopathy is a serious illness that requires long-term treatment. It will not be possible to completely get rid of it if foci of dead cells are already present in the brain. Only proper therapy, timely detection of diseases, compliance with the recommendations of competent specialists will help slow down the progression of pathology.