Everyone knows how harmful alcohol affects the body. Long-term alcohol abuse provokes the development of various diseases. It is not uncommon for patients suffering from alcohol dependence to be diagnosed with Korsakoff's syndrome, a condition characterized by memory disorders. There may be other reasons for such a violation.
What is Korsakoff's syndrome
A patient with this pathology loses the ability to remember current events, but at the same time he retains the memory of the past. For the first time, such a violation was studied and described by the Russian psychiatrist Korsakov S. S., hence the name.
At first it was believed that such memory problems manifest themselves only under the influence of alcoholic beverages consumed for a long time and in considerable quantities. But further studies have shown that the main cause of disorders is vitamin B1 deficiency, which causes various malfunctions in the central nervous system and individual parts of the brain, and also leads tothe development of degenerative processes that appear with age.
Modern psychiatrists believe that Korsakoff's syndrome is an independent nosological unit, which is a special type of amnesia.
How the disease manifests
The main symptom of this pathology is the inability to remember and reproduce new information. Events that happened to a person before, even before he fell ill, are stored in memory, unlike those that happened recently or those that are happening now.
The most common signs of Korsakoff's syndrome:
- A person loses orientation in space, getting into new and unusual places for himself. For example, while in the hospital, the patient finds it difficult to find his room, but at home this problem does not manifest itself, since the work of long-term memory is not disturbed. A change of residence or even a simple rearrangement in the room is a severe stress for the patient, which can provoke the rapid development of the pathology.
- The patient is not oriented in time. A person with such a disease does not remember today's date, month, or year. He is unable to understand where he is and to realize what is happening to him.
- A person can talk about events that actually did not happen. And often such stories take on fantastic shapes, for example, from a patient you can hear about parallel worlds where he was, a battle with non-existent monsters. For others, it looks like an outright lie,the victim himself does not even suspect that this is only a figment of his imagination.
- In Korsakov's syndrome, memory disorders are observed, which are called pseudo-reminiscences, that is, events occurring in the patient's life turn out to be displaced in time. Thus, a person involuntarily fills in gaps in memory. For an outside listener, such stories do not arouse any suspicion and look quite ordinary, but, reporting that he was in the theater or traveled, rested by the sea, the person himself does not suspect that these events happened to him in the distant past, and not in the present. time.
- The patient can fill in gaps in memory with events from movies or books. There is some information in the human memory, but he does not remember where it came from. Therefore, he can pass off other people's thoughts, statements, poems as his own.
- Patient has difficulty concentrating, lacks willpower.
- Some patients suffer from such a phenomenon as false recognition. When they meet a stranger, they “recognize” him and take him for someone they knew before.
Korsakov's syndrome has other symptoms that are not only related to memory. The patient may experience ophthalmoplegia, which is expressed in partial unilateral or bilateral paralysis of the oculomotor muscles. The disorder is characterized by asymmetric gaze or the inability of the patient to focus on a particular object. Manifestations of ataxia are also possible, when there is no coordination in the movements of the skeletal muscles.
Often Korsakoff's syndromeaccompanied by retrograde or anterograde amnesia. The patient is emotionally unstable, his sluggish, indifferent state suddenly changes to a feeling of euphoria. Auditory and visual hallucinations may occur, especially in the evening or at night. Such disorders are most pronounced in people with alcohol dependence and in elderly patients.
In addition, if a person is addicted to alcohol, the development of Korsakoff-Wernicke syndrome (a combination of Korsakoff's syndrome with acute alcoholic encephalopathy) is possible. The condition is manifested by violations of both short-term and long-term memory, loss of the ability to think logically, lethargy and slowness, impaired coordination of movements, confusion.
According to the dynamics, the violation can be:
- progressive (manifested by an increase in the severity of manifestations);
- regressive (characterized by improvement);
- stationary (the severity and severity of violations do not change over the years).
Signs of non-alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome differ depending on the patient's age:
- older people develop apathy, they suffer from loss of orientation in time;
- when Korsakov's syndrome occurs in childhood, the memory of young patients suffers, children forget the events that happened to them recently;
- middle-aged patients are in a state of euphoria. However, this does not last long and is replaced by memory lapses. The patient does not remember the events that happened withhim lately.
What to look out for
The first symptoms may occur long before the development of pathology. You should be alert for the following signs, which may indicate the likelihood of Korsakov's amnestic syndrome in the future:
- pain in legs, calves;
- blackout eyes;
- feeling aching in the body;
- unsteady gait;
- headaches, more often in the temple area;
- night sweats;
- limitation of opportunities, loss of interest in life;
- feeling uneasy.
Causes of disease development
Vitamin B1 plays an important role in the human body. With its participation, nerve impulses are formed and transmitted between nerve cells. Korsakov's syndrome is a condition characterized by a lack of vitamin B1, when metabolic processes are disturbed, which negatively affects the state of the deep structures of the brain.
Deficiency most often occurs with prolonged abuse of alcoholic beverages, since the vitamin cannot be normally absorbed by the body. This leads to the development of acute encephalopathy, without appropriate therapy leading to the onset of the disease.
At what diseases does Korsakov's syndrome still occur? Pathology can result from:
- severe head injuries, in which some parts of the brain were affected. Pathology has an acute onset, complete recovery is observed in rare cases;
- genetic predisposition;
- degenerative processes that develop in old age, such as Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease;
- pathologies of the nervous system caused by various infections;
- encephalitis of various forms;
- intoxication of the body;
- pathologies of the digestive system, prolonged vomiting;
- constant malnutrition on the background of alcohol addiction. Also, Korsakoff's syndrome occurs when you are exhausted due to a diet or fasting in order to get rid of excess weight;
- chemotherapy, as a side effect;
- temporal lobe surgery performed on people with epilepsy.
The disease may not progress for a long time, and if the treatment was timely and competent, then a decrease in manifestations is possible. With Korsakov's syndrome, the development of psychosis is observed if there was no therapy. At the same time, in addition to the loss of orientation in time and space, the patient loses the ability to recognize the people who surround him. The patient may become delirious, and single hallucinations may occur.
Diagnostic measures
With such a disease as Korsakov's syndrome, the determination of the amount of vitamin B1 is of diagnostic importance, for which a blood test is performed and the main functions of the liver are evaluated. Also resort to a general examination of the patient. But they make a diagnosis only if there is a stable symptom - memory problems that have arisen with prolonged use of alcoholic beverages. To detect such violations, refer topsychological tests, consisting in memorizing phrases or words.
Differential Diagnosis
Differential diagnosis of Korsakoff's syndrome is important for successful therapy, as there are other disorders that can occur against the background of alcoholism. It is also important to rule out other memory disorders that are not related to alcohol abuse, such as dementia, depressive disorders, organic brain damage.
Methods of therapy for disease
Treatment of Korsakov's syndrome is associated with significant difficulties. Success depends:
- on the degree of social adaptation of the patient;
- age of patient;
- general he alth;
- duration of drinking;
- degrees of brain damage.
The main problem is that the patient, who has the first signs of a violation, is not able to realize this. For some time, memory lapses are not noticed by others. And even when the diagnosis is made, the patient may refuse therapy, as he will consider himself completely he althy.
The method of treating Korsakov's syndrome is selected individually and carried out in a complex by a psychiatrist, narcologist (for alcoholism) and a neuropathologist.
The main goal of therapy is to eliminate the cause that caused the violation. When Korsakov's syndrome occurs as a result of alcoholism, the patient is prescribed funds based onthiamine and other micronutrients that can protect against brain damage.
With the help of nootropics, they achieve a significant improvement in memory, increased concentration and learning ability. With increased anxiety and nervous excitability, the patient is recommended to take antipsychotic drugs in small doses.
In addition to drug therapy, it is necessary to visit a psychotherapist, which will help restore the patient's social adaptation. You should not be ashamed of this, such consultations have helped many people. Severe cases require hospitalization. In a medical institution, the patient will be provided with appropriate assistance and care. A very important point is the complete rejection of alcohol, if the violations were caused precisely by this, otherwise the therapy may be ineffective, the risk of relapse increases.
The patient should definitely eat a high protein, low carbohydrate diet (in order to reduce the internal consumption of vitamin B1).
Treatment prognosis
A complete cure for Korsakoff's syndrome is impossible, as brain damage is irreversible. But timely medical care helps to stop the development of pathology and significantly improve the patient's condition.
What could be the complications
Without timely treatment, patients suffering from alcohol dependence can develop dementia. In some cases, it is not possible to restore memory, a person becomes disabled.
Disease prevention
Since the basis of the pathology is a certain model of behavior (addiction to alcohol or poor nutrition), it is quite amenable to prevention. Key preventive measures:
- Refuse or limit the amount of alcohol. If you notice signs of excessive addiction to alcohol, tell your loved ones about it and do not be afraid to contact a specialist. Timely treatment will relieve the development of disorders in the future.
- Since Korsakov's syndrome occurs from a lack of vitamin B1, it is necessary to include foods rich in this substance in the menu.
- If the first signs of memory impairment appear, you should contact a specialist as soon as possible. The doctor, after a thorough diagnosis, will determine whether this is due to the natural aging process or something else.
- Do not refuse the support of loved ones. Dangerous symptoms can be very difficult to manage on your own, and help from friends and family is greatly appreciated.
Korsakoff's syndrome is a severe disorder that in most cases has a poor prognosis. To protect yourself from such a dangerous condition, it is important to take care of prevention, as well as reduce the consumption of alcoholic beverages or even completely abandon them.
