The most severe 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 out for
So, you have noticed the strange behavior of loved ones: the destruction of social skills, slovenliness, impaired speech - this can signal a very serious illness. In some cases, if you delay in contacting a neurologist, you will receive a diagnosis of grade 3 dyscirculatory encephalopathy.
How long you can live with him, no doctor can say for sure. The disease has the ability to progress over time.
Discirculatory 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 own symptoms. There is also a differentiation of the disease by type. The most dangerous is dyscirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree. How long toliving with such a diagnosis is difficult to say. The disease lasts from several months to five years.
Types of diseases
Depending on the cause, the disease is divided into several varieties:
- Atherosclerotic - caused by damage to the main vessels of the brain. Most common.
- Venous - associated with a difficult outflow of venous blood from the brain. Stagnation causes squeezing of the veins, as a result, the outflow becomes even more difficult, brain activity is inhibited due to the resulting edema.
- Hypertensive - occurs already at a young age and comes in periods, at times of increased blood pressure. After the crisis passes, brain functions return to normal. At the same time, frequent hypertensive crises significantly worsen the patient's condition, and the disease progresses. The frequent jumps in blood pressure in combination with the diagnosis of "discirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree" make the prognosis of the patient's life very unfavorable.
- Mixed - the patient may have venous or atherosclerotic dyscirculatory encephalopathy. In this case, the disease is constantly aggravated by hypertensive crises. Discirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree of mixed genesis is especially difficult to treat, as neurological disorders become more obvious.
Causes of discirculatory encephalopathy
A mass of vascular disorders can lead to a diagnosis"dyscirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree". The prognosis is extremely disappointing. It is very important to prevent its onset.
- Hypertension is an increase in blood pressure.
- Cerebral atherosclerosis - impaired functioning of the arteries.
- Simultaneous presence of atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension.
- Inflammatory processes - vasculitis of various origins.
Contribute to the progression of the disease: alcoholism, neglected cervical osteochondrosis, chronic stress and overstrain.
The first stage of the disease
The first stage goes unnoticed, and the symptoms can be confused with other diseases, the consequences of injuries.
Characteristic:
- Noise in the head.
- Dizziness.
- Headaches.
- Sleep disorders, insomnia, dysania (weakness, feeling unwell on waking, difficulty getting out of bed).
- Memory disturbances, distraction.
- Decrease in cognitive activity.
- The appearance of instability when walking, stiffness of movements.
Development of the disease
The second stage of the disease is characterized by visible mental disorders, behind which is a violation of the brain. Patients experience frequent bouts of hypochondria, depression. From the side it seems that the character of the patient deteriorates. The sick person tries to adapt, to shift the blame onto others. Characteristic manifestations:
- Attention disorder.
- Significantmemory impairment.
- Violation of self-control.
- Pseudobulbar syndrome - difficulty swallowing food.
- Irritability, frequent mood swings.
- Depressive states.
The disease implies a disability, but the patient is still able to serve himself. Based on the above symptoms, of course, the diagnosis is not made: dyscirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree. How long 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 needed.
Discirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree. 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, may appear:
- Significant mobility impairments.
- Incontinence.
- Tremor in arms and legs, shaking of the head (parkinsonism).
- Disinhibition.
- Severe dementia.
- Loss of social skills, difficulty speaking.
At this stage, the sick person is completely dependent on the people around him, needs continuous care and control.
The question of whether discirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree will cause disability remains open. A patient with a complexcardiovascular disease may not survive to this stage.
Diagnosis
Discirculatory encephalopathy can make a person completely incapacitated. The development of the disease is extremely difficult to predict. Deterioration can come quickly enough, so that relatives will not even notice the passage of one of the stages. Also, the patient can hold out for a long time in one state. The duration of the next period can be calculated using the age of the patient and the stage of the disease. But identifying the first phase is quite difficult. Just collecting anamnesis is not enough. Special studies needed.
To make a final diagnosis, the specialist records:
- Neurological disorders, the dynamics of these disorders. The assessment is made by a neuropathologist based on the collection of anamnesis, checking reflexes, and interviewing loved ones.
- Evaluation 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 concentrate, navigate in time and space, the ability to respond to criticism. Speech tested, vision tested.
- REG (Rheoencephalography) allows you to assess the state of cerebral vessels, their filling and the tone of the vascular walls.
- Typical changes in cerebral vessels revealed on computed tomography. The degree of brain damage, stage and assessment of the possibility of remission are determined.
- Changes in cerebral vessels recorded by ultrasounddopplerography, also reflect the state of the vessels. The study reveals blood clots and clogged vessels.
- Changes in the patient's blood may indicate increased clotting, as an additional risk to blood vessels.
The final verdict reads: discirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree. How long can you live with this disease? It's impossible to determine. Most often, this diagnosis is made in very old people.
Treatment of discirculatory encephalopathy
In addition to the tests, the patient's condition is assessed, the stage and rate of development of the disease, as well as its type, are revealed. Only after that treatment is prescribed.
In the type of hypertensive disease, drugs are prescribed that lower blood pressure. This prevents new attacks, and the disease goes into remission. The pressure must be reduced smoothly and not allowed to fluctuate. In atherosclerotic dyscirculatory 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, the treatment of atherosclerosis is also very important. The third type of treatment is to support the work of neurons and restore brain function.
At the first two stages of the disease, the onset of remission after drug treatment is quite possible.
Surgical treatment
Sometimes surgery is required to repair or clean the vessel. The operation is complicated and requires a long rehabilitation, but some brain functions can be restored. However, without treatmentunderlying disease, such an intervention is inappropriate.
After stenosis of the cerebral vessels, it is necessary to constantly be observed by a neurologist, undergo examinations. The operation does not cancel medical treatment and compliance with all doctor's recommendations.
Disease prevention
He althy lifestyle is an integral part of he alth care. By following a diet, leading an active lifestyle, you will delay the onset of mental disorders as much as possible. In the event that dyscirculatory encephalopathy of the 3rd degree is detected, decompensation with the help of surgical intervention will not improve the patient's situation. If your blood relatives had high blood pressure and vascular diseases, you need to regularly undergo examinations by a neurologist, regardless of whether dyscirculatory encephalopathy was detected in someone close or not. It is necessary to assess your condition with the help of doctors, even if there are no symptoms yet.
