Not all people are fortunate enough to keep a clear mind until old age. Only 30% of those who lived to the turn of 80 years are distinguished by sober judgments. The rest have one or another disorder of thinking, and memory suffers.
This condition is a disease that most often affects women. The name of this disease is senile dementia. Women suffer more from dementia because of their endocrine-hormonal complex. Men, on the other hand, fall into this risk group, as a rule, only if they have problems with drug addiction and alcoholism, as well as with the cardiovascular system.
What is senile dementia, what are its features, causes, symptoms and treatments?
Definition of concept
What is senile dementia? This is a violation in the functioning of the nervous system, which develops against the background of the extinction of the activity of the processes occurring in the cerebral cortex.brain. The result of this phenomenon is irreversible changes in cells, which has a direct impact on the behavioral factor, as well as the perception of the world around and a person's awareness of himself in society.
You can talk about senile dementia in those cases when a person who has reached a respectable age gets confused in words, becomes unpredictable and is not able to remember life situations. Such people need constant monitoring of their actions.
Against the background of the negative processes taking place in their bodies, old people change far from for the better. They show aggression towards loved ones.
Age-related dementia is accompanied by many different cognitive disorders. As a rule, with age comes a tendency to depression, personal degradation occurs. The person becomes inactive and unemotional.
Age-related disease, unlike vascular dementia, is a more critical pathology. With dementia caused by malfunctions in the functioning of blood vessels, patients have difficulty in reproducing information.
Such patients do not forget all the events that have occurred. They develop neuralgic and emotional disorders, reduced motor activity. But at the same time, the pathology associated with the vessels cannot lead to the development of a critical situation.
Causes of senile dementia
Age-related dementia, according to medical research, is differentseveral factors contributing to the development of pathology. This process progresses for a number of reasons. All of them are individual for each specific person. The causes of senile dementia are conditionally divided into groups:
- The development of pathology occurs due to a decrease in the supply of oxygen through cell membranes. With a regular lack of this valuable substance, disturbances occur in the functioning of neurons, which contribute to providing a person with memory, the ability to think and acquire new knowledge.
- Senile plaques lead to senile dementia. These formations are formed during the deposition of protein and lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease. It is also the cause of senile dementia. The tangle formed from proteins is deposited in the cerebral cortex and becomes a clear obstacle to the movement of impulses. In this case, there is a violation of the functioning of brain cells, which further worsens the course of senile dementia.
- Genetic predisposition. In its presence, the likelihood of developing dementia is significantly increased. However, even in the presence of a gene that provokes this disease, there is still no absolute guarantee of its occurrence.
- Head injuries. They are also a cause of senile dementia, even if obtained in youth. Injuries will definitely affect when a person reaches 70-80 years of age. That is why dementia most often affects boxers. After all, their sports activities are associated with periodic blows to the head. The number of injuries received further affects the symptoms andthe severity of the pathology.
- Infections that negatively affect the brain. Their influence causes structural changes. Pathologies such as encephalitis and meningitis often lead to senile dementia.
- Bad habits. The disease most often affects those people who abuse, for example, drugs and alcohol. This becomes the main cause of deep damage to brain cells.
The development of senile dementia is very rarely due to only one factor negatively affecting the body. Most often, it becomes the result of several reasons at once.
Symptomatics
The first signs of senile dementia in older people are subtle. Most often they are attributed to age-related personality changes. However, if you have the symptoms described above, you should still show concern:
- Intermittent memory failures. Among the symptoms of senile dementia, one stands out in particular, in which a person cannot remember yesterday's events, but quite well reproduces those facts that took place several years ago. It is difficult for such a patient to remember even important events. He even sometimes does not understand what time he is. Suddenly, such people begin to gather somewhere or communicate with the already dead. Their reality is the resulting illusions and hallucinations. It becomes simply impossible to convince a person of the opposite.
- Sloppiness, lack of hygiene, negligence in clothing. These are also signs of senile dementia. Previously habitual, some actions are moreare not of interest to people. At the same time, he has an excessive persistence with which he seeks to prove his case. Such a patient, as a rule, is indifferent to everything that obviously does not concern him. Often a sign of dementia is the loss of modesty.
- Deterioration of thinking that is unable to adapt to changing time trends. A patient with senile dementia is a conservative. Often in his speech you can hear phrases like "Not like now …", "In our time …", etc. It becomes difficult for such a person to rebuild his own views, he begins to cling to past attitudes, while showing obsession.
- Loss of orientation. She is seen in unfamiliar places. There are no such problems at home.
- Among the symptoms of senile dementia is talkativeness. But at the same time, the speech of such a person is common, he uses familiar phrases, and his words are accompanied by facial expressions. This greatly complicates the definition of pathology at its initial stage. Dementia can only be diagnosed if the person is unable to answer the date question.
Symptoms of dementia are manifested in excessive stinginess and even greed. Often, patients have a craving for collecting unnecessary things for them. A sign of senile dementia sometimes becomes hypersexuality and excessive appetite. It seems to the patient that he is young, and he has neither children nor grandchildren. His relationships with close people are not built in the best way. He begins to declare that those around him want him dead, they want to poison him or rob him.
Often, dementia is manifested by excessive sentimentality, anger, aggression or depression. At its late stage of development, the disease manifests symptoms in which a person becomes unable to serve himself independently. The patient can harm himself and others. If one of the family members has senile dementia, what should the relatives do? Constantly monitor a loved one.
Mild dementia
Depending on the duration of the disease, as well as on the age of the person and the presence of concomitant ailments, three stages of senile dementia are distinguished. The first of them is typical for the pathology of a mild degree of manifestation. At the same time, a person sometimes develops forgetfulness. For example, he does not remember whether he drank the medicine or not, whether he put the key in his pocket, etc. In addition, fixation amnesia occurs at this stage of the disease. The person immediately forgets the details of a recent event or conversation. This is how, for example, the first signs of Alzheimer's dementia appear.
At the initial, mild stage of development of senile dementia in a person, some traits of his character are exaggerated and hypertrophied. In this case, perseverance turns into stubborn stubbornness, thrift into stinginess and greed, and punctuality and scrupulousness are directed to meaningless trifles and details. In other words, a person in the eyes of others turns into a real bore. The patient often grumbles, categoricallyapplies to any life situation. These symptoms are the most characteristic signs of senile dementia.
Mild degree of pathology is expressed in the inability to switch and concentrate attention, as well as in a decrease in the pace of thinking. Difficulties also arise in professional activities, especially in those where it is necessary to demonstrate design and planning skills. The patient sometimes experiences difficulty in selecting the words necessary for the interlocutor, and sometimes repeats some of them several times in a row. Criticism at this stage of the disease in humans is still preserved. In this regard, some failure begins to confuse the patient. He worries about his condition, because of which he narrows the circle of communication and interests. At the same time, such people have new hobbies, for example, collecting unnecessary trash.
In addition to the manifestations of pathology described above, the patient complains of anxiety. He has emotional lability and rapid exhaustion. Such a person, as before, does his usual housework and is able to live independently. He doesn't need to be looked after. Relatives should only show attention.
Moderate dementia
senile dementia in the second stage of its development is manifested in ever-widening and deepening memory lapses. A person no longer remembers events of various prescriptions, names (sometimes even relatives), as well as dates. Such a patient replaces forgotten facts with fiction, which in the language of official medicine is called “confabulation”. For such a person, all events move in time. He sometimes seemsthat what happened 30-40 years ago happened only yesterday. Experts call this phenomenon “pseudo-reminiscence”. The patient also loses temporal and spatial orientation.
With a moderate degree of dementia, the patient is still calm and comfortable at home. However, once outside, he loses his bearings and may get lost.
The second degree of the disease is indicated by the fact that an elderly person begins to get confused in his family ties, sometimes identifying living people with long-dead ones. Gradually, he loses the skills to use household appliances and the door key. He is still able to perform the necessary hygiene procedures, but often does not, which makes him look sloppy. Such a person, as a rule, does not look in the mirror, and when he accidentally sees his reflection, he simply does not recognize himself. At this stage of the disease, he has no criticism. The person becomes very fussy. He constantly shifts various items from place to place and packs things for a fictional trip. With such a degree of senile dementia, what should relatives do? They will need to help the patient in everyday life, control him and provide care.
Severe dementia
At this stage of the disease, senile dementia in women and men reaches its peak with a maximum disorder of all mental functions. The patient is no longer able to perform even the simplest actions. He does not observe personal hygiene, and is also unable to control stools and urination. Speechsuch a person is represented by separate words and inarticulate sounds. He ceases to recognize loved ones and is not even aware of himself. In patients with dementia, as a rule, swallowing is disturbed, and they stop eating on their own. The person is exhausted. He practically does not get out of bed and his personality comes to complete disintegration. This condition is accompanied by metabolic and circulatory disorders. Bedsores appear on the body, pneumonia often develops, and an exacerbation of all existing diseases in the patient occurs. Such a patient needs constant supervision. He can be placed in a specialized boarding school, where he will be given the necessary care.
Diseases associated with dementia
How many live with such a diagnosis? Senile dementia can have a different flow rate. The number of years lived by the patient will depend on this. If a person continues to be active, enjoys the little things and communicates well with others, then the chances of the disease are low.
But in general, life expectancy with dementia can be different based on the presence of ailments associated with such a condition. Among them:
- Parkinson's disease. Dementia in humans develops already in the later stages of this pathology. Patients lose most of their practical skills, their respiratory function is disturbed, and emotional disorders occur. The resulting dementia makes the course of this disease even more severe. With normal treatment, the life expectancy of the patient is several years.
- Alzheimer's Syndrome. He, in fact, is senile dementia. With this disease, patients live another 10 to 15 years. Sometimes it happens that the patient's coordination is disturbed and he falls, resulting in fractures and physical injuries. How many live with such diagnoses? Senile dementia in this case progresses rapidly and leads to the death of the patient after a few months or even weeks.
- Huntington's disease. With this type of pathology, dementia, as a rule, is in a severe stage. In rare cases, its moderate symptoms appear. In this state, the patient is given from 10 to 15 years of life.
- Frontal dementia. This disease usually occurs in people over the age of 40. The disease very quickly passes into its difficult stage. In this case, the patient can live from 7 to 15 years.
- Vascular dementia. This type of dementia affects people who have reached the age of 70. With this pathology, the life expectancy of a person depends on the causes of the development of the disease. For example, in strokes with the addition of depression and emotional disorders, the patient is given from a couple of months to several years.
Treatment
Of course, many are interested in this question: "Is there a cure for senile dementia?" Unfortunately, it is impossible to eliminate such a pathology. The fact is that dead brain cells cannot be restored. However, treatment of senile dementia is still necessary. Especially in the initial stages of the development of the disease, it will prevent the transition of the patient's condition to the worst stage.pathology and delay the progression of symptoms.
Using the drugs recommended by the doctor for senile dementia, a person will be able to serve himself, which is important not only for him, but also for his loved ones. It is necessary to treat the disease at home, as the familiar environment is more comfortable for the patient.
A course of treatment for senile dementia should be recommended by a doctor. Only a specialist is able to assess the clinical picture of the disease and develop a specific tactic to eliminate it. As a general rule, the doctor recommends:
- preparations to eliminate the factors that caused dementia;
- drugs to help overcome emotional disturbances.
Used drugs
Drugs designed to eliminate the very causes of dementia in the elderly are prescribed by a doctor only after carefully conducted examinations of the patient. To date, the most commonly used drugs belong to the class of cholinesterase inhibitors.
They allow you to eliminate senile dementia, which is most often called Alzheimer's disease. The most popular drugs in this case are:
- "Amiridine", which promotes memory recovery;
- "Tacrine", normalizing nervous activity;
- "Exelon", eliminating moderate dementia;
- "Donepezil", slowing down the negative process in the cerebral cortex, restoring the activity of the patient andreducing the severity of symptoms;
- "Selegiline" and other hormone replacement drugs that slow down the progression of the disease;
- Vitamin E, designed to improve the functioning of neurons;
- "Piracetam", activating cognitive processes;
- "Nimodipine", correcting cerebral circulation.
Drugs aimed at normalizing the emotional state are prescribed by the doctor individually based on an assessment of the existing clinical picture. These can be drugs such as:
- "Phenazepam" reduces anxiety.
- "Haloperidol", eliminating confusion.
- "Mexidol", relieving stress.
- "Phenibut", normalizing sleep.
- "Chlorprothixene", eliminating hyperexcitability.
Prevention of senile dementia
How to avoid senile dementia? Measures in this direction must begin to be carried out even in young years, preventing and also eliminating factors that contribute to the development of the disease. The best prevention of senile dementia is a he althy lifestyle. Proper nutrition, fresh air and exercise will significantly reduce the likelihood of this dangerous disease and maintain clarity of mind.
