Encephalopathy is an organic pathological condition that leads to a violation of the functionality of internal systems and organs. Symptoms of encephalopathy depend on the area of localization of disorders in the body. Most often they talk about brain damage. It is with him that we begin consideration of the topic.
general information
Encephalopathy is a pathological condition that is not associated with inflammatory processes, leading to disruption of the brain. Congenital pathology is possible, encephalopathy can be acquired due to infection, grass, metabolic problems. Everyone has a risk of a pathological condition; gender or age does not play a role. The trouble did not pass by babies. As is known from medical statistics, most often treatment is required for the symptoms of encephalopathy in the elderly.
The process is accompanied by dystrophic changes in the brain tissues. The progress of the disease leads to a violation of the functionality of the organ and irreversible changes. Complications are possible up to coma and death.
Where did the trouble come from?
Symptoms of brain encephalopathy in adults and children are possible due to prolonged inadequate supply of oxygen to the brain tissue. In infants, this is usually explained by the disorders that accompanied the bearing of the fetus, as well as the peculiarities of childbirth. There is a risk of this condition due to brain injury or damage to other parts of the head. Statistics show that most often for this reason, pathology is diagnosed in boxers.
Encephalopathy can provoke a lack of functioning, increased pressure in the blood vessels, inside the skull. Sometimes symptoms of encephalopathy in adults occur against the background of atherosclerosis. Lack of liver, kidney, diabetes and other metabolic disorders in the body, as well as the use of a number of drugs can provoke this condition. Encephalopathy can occur in people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs, survivors of poisoning with heavy metals or chemical compounds. The probability of pathology in radiation sickness is increased. Sometimes encephalopathy develops as a complication due to infectious diseases.
Forms and Types
If two main forms: congenital, acquired. The first option is formed from the 28th week of gestation and gradually develops during the entire development period. Another option for encephalopathy in newborns is the appearance of a pathological condition during the first seven days of life. Features of genetics, maternal diseases, abnormalities, and injuries can provoke a violation.
Acquired disease can appear against the backdrop of alcoholism, lack of vitamins, hypertension, after injuries. Symptoms of discirculatory encephalopathy can be disturbing in the presence of numerous foci of impaired blood flow in the brain. Possible metabolic, radiation, toxic forms, as well as developing leukoencephalopathy, a disease provoked by inflammatory foci in the thyroid gland.
How to notice?
Symptoms of encephalopathy are quite diverse - it all depends on the form of the disease, the causes that provoked it, the area of localization of injuries. Vegetative, cognitive, emotional, mental deviations are possible. Some forms may be accompanied by psychosis.
A characteristic symptom of encephalopathy is fainting, often a sick, swirling head. Pain is perceived in the background, can be very disturbing. In some cases, attacks of pain do not come for long, the sensations are intense. With pathology, it is difficult for the patient to concentrate, the head is noisy, memory is deteriorating, the ability to think and reason is weakening.
Symptoms of encephalopathy include increased fatigue and general weakness. Sometimes the patient sleeps during the day, but sleeplessness at night, as well as other deviations, including nightmares, are possible. In some cases, the disease manifests itself as apathy, lack of motivation, desires, initiative. One of the symptoms of encephalopathy is a decrease in curiosity, a decrease in the circle of hobbies, interests.
Some patients become depressed, aggressive, emotionally unstable. Many say that there is a desire to bring death closer. Possible tremors, difficulties with coordination of movement, parkinsonism, sexual dysfunction, impaired hearing, vision. Against the background of encephalopathy, speech becomes lethargic, quiet. The patient has numb fingertips, nose. Convulsions are possible.
Disease progresses
Without adequate patient assistance, the symptoms of brain encephalopathy progress. All of the above phenomena appear to a greater extent, gradually they are supplemented by a violation of consciousness. There may be episodes of delusional speech, hallucinations. Some patients suffer from psychosis. In some cases, a personality change is observed.
How to determine?
If you suspect symptoms of discirculatory encephalopathy, alcohol, or any other, you must consult a qualified doctor. The case will be led by a neurologist. To clarify the condition, you need to collect a medical history, obtain data on the characteristics of the patient's condition, his lifestyle, past traumas. They reveal what pressure is, what background diseases of internal organs are, whether bad habits are inherent in a person.
Treatment is chosen for the symptoms of brain encephalopathy only after the behavior of a full instrumental diagnosis. It is necessary to do CT, MRI, EEG, X-ray of the spine in the neck, REG and neurosonography. If you suspect encephalopathy, it is indicated to do an echoencephalography, Doppler study of blood vessels. Take blood samples. In some cases, it is necessary to obtain tissue samples of the spinal cord.
Question Features
Even in the absence of symptoms of encephalopathy in newborns, all children are usually checked before discharge from the hospital for the absence of a pathological condition. As a rule, do an echography. Only after receiving good results, the baby with the mother can be sent home. If abnormalities are found, their causes are clarified and a course of treatment is chosen.
Since encephalopathy in adults more often appears against the background of any diseases, it is important to examine the internal organs and check for foci of inflammation in the kidneys and liver. An ultrasound examination is done, tissue samples are taken for histological and cytological examination.
What to do?
It is necessary to begin treatment, as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed and the doctor is sure that it is precisely the symptoms of brain encephalopathy that are observed. Treatment is chosen based on the root cause of the pathological condition. Prescribe a medical course, take pressure under control. In the presence of joint diseases, chondoprotectors are prescribed (Arthra, Kondronova).
Encephalopathy is provoked by blood flow problems, which means that it is impossible to cure the disease without a course of normalizing blood circulation. The doctor chooses a program to strengthen the vascular walls and prescribes drugs to reduce the viscosity of the fluid (“Aspirin”). In some cases, surgery is indicated, as well as special measures for blood purification.
Only medicines rarely give a pronounced effect. To increase the effectiveness of the course prescribed massage, physiotherapy using magnets, needles, electricity and other approaches. You will have to abandon any bad habits, start eating properly, actively move physically.
Important case
Encephalopathy can be observed against a background of impaired functionality, pathologies of the respiratory system, if any, provoke a lack of ventilation. The likelihood of encephalopathy is increased in patients with pneumonia, tuberculosis, pulmonary embolism, BEB, as well as people with abscesses. In order to detect the disease in time, with such diagnoses it is necessary to undergo a regular examination. Choose, if the pathological condition is provoked by such a cause, the treatment of encephalopathy (the symptoms are described above), based on the type belonging to hypoxic.
The hypoxic genesis of pathology is characteristic of a number of cases when encephalopathy appeared in the period after resuscitation.
Encephalopathy is known to be possible if there is too much or too little sugar in the circulatory system. This is explained by the importance of the role of this compound in cerebral metabolism. There is a higher probability of disturbances if a person lacks B vitamins. There are cases when encephalopathy was observed with a lack of sodium, an excess of fluid in organic tissues, excessive production of the hormone that controls urination.
Case severity
The currently developed gradation of cases in severity, although used, is recognized by many doctors as more conditional than unconditionally applicable. The first degree includes a situation that is not accompanied by clinical manifestations, while cerebral disorders are already observed. They can be identified by conducting diagnostics using specific tools. Encephalopathy can be detected at the first stage only if a person comes for a preventive examination, undergoes a medical examination, or, for example, is referred to for another disease.
Neurological symptoms of mild to moderate form may be transient. This condition is classified as the second degree of a pathological condition. The third is accompanied by severe violations. As a rule, a person is recognized as disabled.
Features of manifestation
Chronic encephalopathy is most common. The symptomatology of the disease is weak, the condition progresses. The acute form manifests itself sharply, clearly, the patient's condition rapidly deteriorates, consciousness is impaired. As a rule, liver encephalopathy requiring urgent treatment manifests itself in this way. Symptoms of this condition are close to other forms of encephalopathy, due to poisoning and metabolic disorders.
In the chronicle, the patient will experience problems when trying to remember what happened recently, heard or recognized. Attention and focus are reduced. The patient quickly gets tired, suffers from sleep disorders. Serious difficulties accompany the change in the type of activity, since there is not enough mental flexibility to adjust. Symptoms vary greatly from case to case.
Note
Sometimes the symptoms of encephalopathy (diabetic, venous, liver, and other forms) include nystagmus, decreased muscle tone, and increased reflection. The phenomenon of stop signs is possible. Some have oral automatism. The condition is affected by impaired coordination and impaired vision. Possible slight ptosis, paresis. Analysis of the condition shows the presence of autonomic disorders.
As you progress, the symptoms of encephalopathy (venous, liver, due to metabolic problems and another) are becoming more pronounced. One dominant symptom of the disease appears. This may be ataxia, disruption of the vestibular apparatus, parkinsonism, hyperkinetics, pseudobulbar symptoms. Dementia is observed, the psyche is disturbed.
Acute encephalopathy: features
Acute symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy can manifest itself. Treatment with this condition should be carried out strictly by the ambulance team. Lack of timely support leads to death, as cerebral edema develops, the activity of tissues important for human life is completely disrupted.
Acute encephalopathy manifests itself with severe headache, vision problems. The patient is sick, vomits, the ability to stand upright and confidently is disturbed, psychomotor agitation is noticeable from the side. Perhaps numbness of certain parts of the body. Excitement soon gives way to apathy, consciousness is disturbed. The manifestation of this sign varies in strength - both slight deviations in the form of stunning and a coma are possible. Seizures similar to epilepsy are possible.
Bad habits and diseases
Sometimes encephalopathy develops against the background of alcohol abuse. With a chronic addiction to alcohol, the body lacks B vitamins, which is why brain tissues do not receive the necessary useful components, which means they cannot function normally. Alcohol is toxic to the brain, inhibits the supply of oxygen to cells, and also blocks the flow of amino acids and mineral compounds.
Symptoms of alcohol encephalopathy include loss of appetite, vomiting and nausea, stomach pain. If the patient agrees to eat, he prefers salty, sweet. At the initial stage, encephalopathy always provokes sleep disturbances - from a complete loss of the ability to fall asleep to sleepwalking and nightmare dreams.
Encephalopathy can manifest itself by prolonged reeling in the room in which the patient is. A person at this time can rave, mutter incoherently, growl.
Disease progression
Without timely assistance, alcohol encephalopathy progresses to the state of Gaye Verde. The patient suffers from mental disorders and motility, sees hallucinations, consciousness is dim, speech is delusional, slurred.
In addition, encephalopathy leads to an increase in oily skin, swelling of the face, upper half of the body. Possible fever up to 40 degrees, muscle cramp.
How to treat?
The first and most important point is to completely exclude any alcohol from the patient's daily routine. At the same time, it is important to put a person under medical control. The doctor will prescribe replacement therapy based on the characteristics of the case. An integrated approach minimizes the negative reactions caused by alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Observation should be conducted in a specialized clinic. Often, patients need isolation and fixation of the limbs.
Features of the treatment of encephalopathy in the general case
In acute encephalopathy, urgent hospitalization is necessary. The patient is given a dialysis of blood, they are provided with nutrition by injection into a vein. In the chronic form, it is necessary to choose a program that will affect the root cause of the pathological condition. In case of poisoning, purification is necessary, the use of a solution for infusion, for metabolic problems, insulin or drugs are prescribed to lower the sugar concentration, or a glucose solution, thiamine are injected into a vein.
With encephalopathy, you will have to adhere to a diet selected in accordance with the disease, as well as sleep and wakefulness.
For encephalopathy accompanied by ischemia, Pentoxifylline and Vinpocetine are used. With the atherosclerotic component, “Simvastatin” is prescribed, with increased pressure - means to reduce it (for example, “Enap” or “Irumed”).