Perhaps everyone has heard of such a thing as vegetovascular dystonia. This is due to the fact that the violation is very common, and according to statistics it affects about 80% of the total population of the planet and about 30% of children. Due to the fact that women are more emotional than men, they face this ailment three times more often.
A similar pathology is detected, as a rule, in childhood, and the peak of symptoms occurs in 25–40 years. And this is the most able-bodied and active age, when the normal rhythm of life is violated, the implementation of professional activity is hampered, family relationships suffer.
What is vegetovascular dystonia according to ICD-10, & nbsp; disease or a feature of the functioning of the nervous system? This issue has long been controversial. At first, the researchers defined it as a disease, but as they observed people suffering from VSD, it became clear that this is a certain functional disorder that affects the psyche and vegetation. Symptoms of vegetovascular dystonia in women are more common.
Nevertheless, such functional disorders and subjective unpleasant experiences force a person to change his lifestyle and require qualified help. Over time, they can develop into such dangerous ailments as coronary heart disease, stomach ulcers, hypertension, and even diabetes. So, what is it in simple words - vegetovascular dystonia?
Causes of the disease
The sympathetic and parasympathetic departments, which enter the autonomic nervous system, regulate the functions of internal organs, control the constancy of the internal environment, body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, digestion processes, etc. The body's response to various external stimuli depends on their proper functioning. adaptation to constantly changing conditions, as well as to stress, physical and mental overload.
The autonomic system works independently and autonomously, not obeying the human consciousness. Sympathetic functions determine changes such as increased pressure and pulse, dilated pupils, metabolic processes. In turn, the parasympathetic are responsible for reducing pressure, bradycardia, the secretion of digestive juices and smooth muscle tone. Almost always, these parts of the autonomic system have an antagonistic (opposite) effect, and in some life circumstances the influence of one of them may prevail.
With vegetovascular dystonia in women and men, a variety of symptoms appear that do not fit into the picture of any of the known diseases of the heart, lungs, or stomach. When VVD, as a rule, organic lesions of certain organs are not determined, and attempts by a person to find the disease of one of them do not bring the expected results.
The occurrence of vegetovascular dystonia is closely related to the emotional state and characteristics of the psyche, and therefore it is accompanied by various manifestations of a mental nature. It is difficult to convince the patient in the absence of any pathologies, and the psychotherapist can provide effective help in this case.
The causes of vegetative-vascular dystonia in children are diverse and sometimes hide at an early age, and sometimes even at the stage of intrauterine development. Among them, the following dysfunctions and pathologies are of great importance:
- intrauterine hypoxia, heavy childbirth, transferred at an early age infection;
- frequent stress, neurosis, high physical overload;
- traumatic brain injury, neuroinfection;
- hormonal malfunctions during pregnancy, as well as in adolescence;
- hereditary factors and individual characteristics of the body;
- the presence of chronic pathologies of internal organs.
The complex course of pregnancy and childbirth in the mother, infections in childhood contribute to the development of signs of dystonia in adolescents and children. Babies are prone to anxiety and moodiness, they often regurgitate, they suffer from diarrhea or constipation and are prone to frequent colds.
Among adults, among the factors provoking the occurrence of VSD, stress and strong emotional and physical overload are in the first place. Weak health in childhood and the presence of chronic pathologies can also become reasons for the development of vegetative-vascular dystonia in the future.
In adolescents, such a dysfunction of the nervous system is often associated with active growth, when the autonomic system does not have time to develop as rapidly as physiology. For this reason, the young body is not able to properly adapt to such an imbalance. Symptoms of adaptation dysfunction appear, both psychological and physical, which can manifest itself in the form of heart palpitations, hypotension, shortness of breath, etc.
An important role is played by hereditary factors. It is known that personality traits, the type of behavior in stressful situations and the character a person often inherits from his parents. When there are people in the family who suffer from autonomic dysfunctions, as well as diabetes associated with them, peptic ulcer and hypertension, then in such situations, the likelihood of pathology in posterity is high.
Consider the symptoms of vegetovascular dystonia in women and men.
Symptoms
Signs of VVD are extremely diverse and can affect the functioning of various organs and systems of the body. For this reason, patients in the hope of a specific diagnosis undergo all kinds of examinations and visit specialists. As a rule, at the time of diagnosis, people have an impressive list of passed diagnostic measures and are confident that they have a serious pathology. Symptoms of vegetovascular dystonia are very diverse.
Depending on the presence of certain manifestations, there are several types of VSD:
- sympathicotonic,
- parasympathicotonic,
- mixed.
The extent to which the symptoms of such dysfunction are expressed determines the course of the pathology: mild, severe or moderate. And the prevalence of symptoms of VVD allows you to distinguish between generalized and local forms, when many systems or one of them suffer from a violation. According to the type of course, dystonia is hidden, variable and constant.
The main symptoms of vegetovascular dystonia are:
- heart pain (cardialgia),
- arrhythmia,
- breathing disorders
- vegetative disorders
- changes in vascular tone,
- neurosis and severe psychological conditions.
Cardiac syndrome with dystonia, which occurs, as a rule, in 9 out of 10 patients, consists in a feeling of a rapid heartbeat or a sinking heart, chest pain, interruptions in the heart rhythm. Patients do not adapt well to stress and note constant weakness and chronic fatigue. Cardialgia is aching, burning, prolonged or short-term, and cardiac arrhythmias can be either in the direction of increased heart rate or in the direction of decreasing heart rate (tachycardia or bradycardia). Examination of the heart, as a rule, does not show any structural or organic disturbances.
ICD-10 vegetative-vascular dystonia has not yet been identified as an independent pathology. The disease, which proceeds according to the hypertonic type, can manifest itself with high blood pressure, which most often does not exceed the upper limit of the norm. These hypertensive crises during vegetative-vascular dystonia are extremely rare and are most likely associated with other chronic diseases. Against the background of changes in pressure, the occurrence of a headache, weakness, heart palpitations is possible.
VVD hypotonic form is associated with increased activity of the parasympathetic department. In such cases, patients are prone to apathy, drowsiness, weakness and fatigue. They often faint, and astenics and thin people are often found among them, they are very pale and always freeze. Their blood pressure is usually low.
With all types of VVD, headache, constant fatigue, disorders of the stool in the form of diarrhea or constipation, shortness of breath, a feeling of a "lump" in the throat and respiratory disorders are possible. Cerebral dystonia may be accompanied by dizziness, fainting, and tinnitus.
Body temperature can increase for no reason and drop spontaneously. In this case, the characteristic symptoms are sweating, redness of the face, trembling, a feeling of heat or coldness. Patients with VSD are meteosensitive, poorly adapted to stress and stressful situations.
Particular attention is required psycho-emotional state, which usually suffers from various types of autonomic dysfunctions. At the same time, patients are apathetic or, conversely, too active, irritable and shy. Frequent bouts of panic attacks, a variety of phobias, suspiciousness, and depression are possible. In severe cases, suicidal tendencies, hypochondria with increased attention to any sign of disease are observed.
Symptoms and treatment of vegetovascular dystonia are interrelated.
Other manifestations of VSD
VVD is most often observed in women, since they are more emotional than men and tend to worry about various occasions. Such women experience stress during pregnancy and the subsequent upbringing of the child. Symptoms may worsen during the menopause, when hormonal changes begin to occur in the body.
Symptoms of autonomic dysfunctions are different and can affect many organs, and the patient is very difficult to experience this condition. Along with imaginary diseases, the emotional background sometimes changes. Tearfulness and irritability violate social adaptation in such people. They often stop communicating, family relationships deteriorate, their lifestyle gradually becomes closed. Many patients prefer solitude, which not only does not improve their condition, but vice versa - contributes to an even greater concentration on subjective sensations.
In addition to functional disorders, other disorders in the work of internal organs are not observed. Nevertheless, a prolonged course of VVD can lead to certain diseases, for example, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, colitis or gastric ulcer. In these cases, in addition to normalizing the emotional background, a more in-depth treatment of such a pathology is required.
Diagnostics
Since there are no clear diagnostic criteria and a list of specific symptoms of VVD, diagnostic measures in this case are aimed at excluding other pathologies. A variety of manifestations of this condition pushes people to frequent visits to doctors, who, as a rule, do not find deviations in their work of internal organs.
Patients with signs of VVD need to visit a neurologist, cardiologist, endocrinologist and, most importantly, a psychotherapist. Specialists interview the patient about the occurrence of VVD among relatives, about the presence of peptic ulcer, diabetes, hypertension and neurosis. It is extremely important to find out how the pregnancy and childbirth occurred in the mother of the patient, what disease the patient suffered in childhood, since the causes of the VSD can be hidden precisely in these periods.
Among diagnostic studies, it is customary to carry out laboratory tests of blood and urine, functional tests to study the activity of the autonomic system, electroencephalography, ECG. How is treatment for symptoms of vegetative vascular dystonia?
Treatment of autonomic dysfunctions
When the specialist’s diagnosis is not in doubt, and other chronic and acute diseases are excluded, he solves the issue of treatment. Such therapy directly depends on the symptoms of the disorder, its severity, as well as how disrupted the human activity. Previously, patients with VVD were observed and treated by a neurologist. But today it is believed that a specialist psychotherapist should deal with such patients, since VVD is primarily a problem of a psychogenic nature.
The main value in therapy are general measures. However, most patients expect that they will be prescribed medications, which at one point will relieve them of all the symptoms of the disease. But this does not happen, because for the successful treatment of pathology you need the desire of the patient himself, his desire to normalize his lifestyle and well-being.
General events
They include:
- maintaining the right lifestyle
- diet,
- physical activity,
- decrease in the frequency of nerve overloads,
- physiotherapy and water treatments.
A healthy lifestyle in the treatment of vegetative-vascular dystonia in women is the basis for the proper functioning of the autonomic system. With such dysfunction, bad habits should be eliminated, the mode of rest and work should be normalized, and with extremely pronounced manifestations of dystonia, sometimes a change in work activity may be required. You need to learn how to relax - the best solution is walking in the fresh air.
The diet should not contain a large amount of salt and liquid, especially with the hypertonic variety of VVD. It is also necessary to refuse too strong coffee, fatty and spicy products. With hypotonic VSD, seafood, tea, and fruit are indicated. Given the fact that the majority of patients experience digestive disorders and suffer from diarrhea and constipation, nutrition should be high-quality and easy - cereals, lean meat, legumes, vegetables and fruits, dairy products.
We examined the symptoms and treatment of vegetovascular dystonia in women.
Physical activity during VSD
This factor is very important because it allows you to normalize the tone of the departments of the autonomic system. In this regard, patients are shown regular exercise, exercise therapy and walking. Various types of water procedures are very useful: a bath, a contrast shower, dousing with cold water, a visit to the pool. Water allows you to strengthen muscles, relieve stress, and the temperature regime of water procedures can also strengthen blood vessels and normalize their elasticity, which is very important for VSD.
Patients should protect themselves as much as possible from various physical and emotional overloads - excessive tiredness after a working day, lack of sleep, etc. The TV and computer are strong irritants, therefore it is better to use them only if necessary, especially when it comes to VSD in childhood. The most useful will be communication, trips to exhibitions or to the park. You can also engage in the gym, but at the same time, strength exercises, weight lifting should be excluded. It is better to prefer yoga, gymnastics, dancing and swimming.
Physiotherapy is also very good at improving the patient's condition. Shown in this case are acupuncture, relaxing massages, magnetotherapy, electrophoresis.
Sanatorium-resort treatment is recommended for patients with VSD, but you should not choose institutions with a cardiological profile. A normal sanatorium or a rest by the sea is enough. The treatment of vegetovascular dystonia is also carried out with the help of drugs.
Drug treatment of VVD
The direction of drug therapy is determined by the specific symptoms in each case. The main group of drugs includes sedatives. These include the following:
- phytopreparations - tinctures of valerian, motherwort, hawthorn, peony, peppermint, Novo-Passit, etc.
- antidepressants - Cipralex, Paroxetine, Rexetin, Amitriptyline, and others;
- tranquilizers - "Seduxen", "Tazepam", "Grandaksin", etc.
In some cases, nootropic drugs such as Piracetam and Omaron, vascular preparations Cinnarizine, Actovegin, and psychotropics Grandaksin, Sonapax may be prescribed. With hypotonic forms of VVD, the use of adaptogens and some tonic phyto-remedies — tinctures of eleutherococcus, ginseng, and Pantocrine — helps a lot.
As a rule, treatment of vegetovascular dystonia should be started with softer natural herbal preparations, but in the absence of effect, light tranquilizers or antidepressants should be added to them. With severe manifestations of anxiety, panic attacks and neurosis-like disorders, medication can no longer be dispensed with.
Symptomatic therapy should be aimed at reducing disorders of the cardiovascular system. , , , — «» , - — «», «», . — «», «», «».
, 50 , — «» . , .
.
. : .
:
- 140 ;
- 170/100 . st .;
- ;
- cold sweat;
- dizziness and weakness;
- , .
Respiratory distress is often found in vegetovascular dystonia in men in combination with other clinical syndromes. The main symptom of respiratory disorders is the inability to take a deep breath or exhale.
Respiratory distress is distinguished from bronchial asthma, in which the main clinical sign is difficult elongated exhalation and a decrease in the volume of exhaled air.
Antidepressants and drugs of the tranquilizer group are used to treat the symptoms of vegetovascular dystonia in men.
Depending on the type of clinical syndrome, the duration of the course of therapy is established. Antidepressants are used for at least one year. But the long-term use of tranquilizers is prescribed with caution, as addiction quickly develops to them.
Treatment of VVD folk remedies
Such therapeutic measures can be quite effective, since many herbs have a sedative effect. In this case, valerian, motherwort, mint, lemon balm and many other plants are used. Herbs are sold in a pharmacy, and they should be prepared using the method described in the instructions. You can simply brew ready-made bags in water. Herbal medicine helps to successfully deal with VVD, especially if combined with the use of certain medications.
It should be noted that the appointment of the above funds from cardiac pathologies does not yet indicate their presence, since in most cases problems with heartbeat and increased pressure are directly functional in nature.
Psychotropic drugs also deserve special attention. Assign them mainly in order to balance the patient’s emotional state, to eliminate the signs of depression that occurs against the background of the occurrence of symptoms of VVD. For this reason, drugs are used only in cases of severe neuropsychiatric disorders, when it is impossible to remove such conditions with natural herbal remedies.
Classes using various methods of influencing the human psyche are also useful. In the presence of phobias, panic attacks, aggression or apathy, as well as obsessive desire to find a terrible disease in oneself, a psychiatrist or psychotherapist helps to find out the cause of such dysfunctions, which may be hidden at the stage of early childhood, in family relationships or once experienced nervous shocks. Having understood the reason for such experiences, many patients find a way to successfully deal with them.
It is necessary to treat VVD comprehensively, with the participation of the patient himself. It is necessary to choose individual schemes and medicines. The patient, in turn, must understand that the symptomatology of diseases of the internal organs is directly related to the characteristics of the psyche and lifestyle. Getting rid of vegetovascular dystonia can be tricky.
With the correct correction of the symptoms of autonomic nervous disorders, the prognosis is very favorable, and the patient’s well-being, as a rule, quickly improves, the normal rhythm of life, social and labor activity are restored. Patients should be under the supervision of a specialist, and treatment courses can be carried out for prevention, especially in the fall and spring, when even people with a normal psyche experience its functional disorders and increase anxiety.