As people age, their physical fitness gradually declines, and many diseases will follow, such as brain atrophy,hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, etc...
Many people are diagnosed with diseases as they age. Brain atrophy not only often causes symptoms of dizziness and headache, but also affects daily life, such as the inability to socialize normally, inability to communicate normally, memory loss, slow response, etc. Patients with severe illness may even not remember their own names and ages .
This not only affects the quality of life of the elderly, but also places a great psychological burden on the elderly. Many elderly people even feel that they have placed a burden on their children after becoming ill, and they are depressed all day long.
So, what kind of disease is brain atrophy? Why are the elderly prone to this disease?
1. What kind of disease is brain atrophy?
Brain atrophy is a brain disease in which the patient's brain tissue shrinks to a certain extent compared to normal volume.
inheritance, brain trauma, excessive smoking and alcohol, malnutrition and other factors may induce brain atrophy; secondly, if you suffer from stroke, encephalitis, meningitis, brain tumor and other diseases or Gas poisoning and alcohol poisoning can also easily cause brain parenchyma destruction and nerve cell atrophy and deformation , inducing brain atrophy.
The cerebral blood vessels of patients with brain atrophy will be in a state of chronic ischemia for a long time, and the deformation ability of red blood cells in the brain will be reduced, resulting in capillary effective blood perfusion being insufficient, brain cell morphology and function will be affected.
When performing imaging examinations, it will be found that the patient's brain sulci are widened, the ventricles are enlarged, and the brain tissue volume is reduced. Different atrophy locations and ranges lead to different types of brain atrophy.
For example, according to the scope of atrophy, brain atrophy can be divided into localized brain atrophy and diffuse brain atrophy ; according to the location of atrophy, it can be divided into cerebral atrophy, cerebellar atrophy , olivine atrophy, pontine atrophy shrink shrink etc.
Brain atrophy mostly occurs in people 0 or older , and the course of the disease can usually last from years to decades . Among the affected people, more males have than females .
In the early stages of the disease, patients may have systemic symptoms such as dizziness, headache, lack of energy, insomnia, and dreaminess due to brain function being damaged; if neurological function is damaged , it may be accompanied by hemiplegia, epilepsy, Ataxia and other nervous system symptoms.
Secondly, patients may suffer from memory impairment and phenomenon. The blood supply of brain tissue in patients with brain atrophy will be affected, so the function of some brain cells will decrease , resulting in weakened memory. Patients are prone to symptoms such as often losing items and forgetting promised things .
If the subsequent brain cell damage is severe, the patient's understanding and judgment ability will be easily affected, resulting in a decrease in the patient's overall intellectual activity level. For example, cannot adapt to social life, have difficulty performing normal work, and cannot answer his or her name correctly. etc.
After understanding the relevant knowledge about brain atrophy, if you are worried that you will suffer from brain atrophy in your old age, it is recommended to take preventive measures through daily habits.
2. I am afraid of brain atrophy when I get older. How should I prevent it?
If you want to prevent brain atrophy, you should first pay attention to adjust your daily habits .
Because carbon monoxide poisoning, alcohol poisoning and other reasons may induce brain atrophy, it is recommended that smoke less and drink less, and avoid using stoves and gas in a closed environment for a long time to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. The indoor space should be kept ventilated on a daily basis.
Secondly, you should rationally use your brain at ordinary times. As you grow older, you can engage in more playing chess, reading and other brain activities. promotes brain operation, stimulates the cerebral cortex to continuously excite , and delays the rate of brain aging. You can start from a certain To a certain extent, it can prevent the occurrence of brain atrophy, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases.
In addition, there is another important step to prevent brain atrophy: actively treat underlying diseases.
Since encephalitis, cerebral infarction, and other brain diseases may induce brain atrophy, once you are diagnosed with a brain disease, you need to receive professional treatment as soon as possible to avoid delaying the condition. Otherwise, if the disease is not treated in time, the degree of brain damage may be aggravated, and the chance of suffering from brain atrophy will increase accordingly.
However, the above measures can only prevent brain atrophy to a certain extent, but do not guarantee that you will not suffer from brain atrophy. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from brain atrophy, don’t worry too much. Just seek professional treatment in time.
3. Once you suffer from brain atrophy, you can use 3 kinds of medicine to treat it. The sooner you use it, the better the effect.
Although there is currently no clear way to cure brain atrophy, the development of the disease can be controlled through active treatment. , improve patients’ clinical symptoms and improve their quality of life.
In the treatment of brain atrophy, three types of drugs can be used as directed by the doctor, namely: brain metabolism activator drugs, drugs that improve cognitive function, and antipsychotic drugs . The sooner these three medicines are used, the better the effect.
Common brain metabolism activating drugs include: Oxiracetam , nicergoline, etc. The use of such drugs can achieve the effect of improving microcirculation and speeding up brain metabolism.
The brain function of patients with brain atrophy is damaged, which may cause neurological loss, memory impairment and other phenomena. Brain metabolism activator drugs can regulate brain function and activate brain cells, so they can be used to treat brain atrophy and alleviate memory dysfunction caused by brain atrophy.
Common drugs that improve cognitive function include: rivastigmine , donepezil and other . The use of such drugs can increase the acetylcholine concentration in the patient's brain, thereby improving memory.
Because the cognitive function of patients with brain atrophy may be affected, and symptoms such as slow response and memory loss may occur, the patient's cognitive function can be improved by taking such drugs, and promotes the recovery of brain atrophy.
Common antipsychotic drugs are: fluoxetine , paroxetine , citalopram .
Because the functional areas of the brain of some patients with brain atrophy will be affected, they are prone to emotional disorders, inducing anxiety, depression, and other negative emotional symptoms.
And antipsychotic drugs can have the effect of regulating the patient's emotional state , so patients with brain atrophy can take such drugs for treatment as directed by their doctor.
The mental state will have a certain impact on the patient's recovery. If depression and anxiety are maintained for a long time, it may slow down the recovery of brain atrophy. Therefore, in addition to using antipsychotic drugs as directed by doctors, patients should also actively adjust their emotional state.
After being diagnosed with brain atrophy, you can actively use the above three drugs for treatment according to the doctor's advice. The earlier the treatment, the better the effect.
If the disease continues to be delayed, it will lead to serious brain damage. Since the death of brain cells is irreversible, and brain atrophy cannot reverse , the use of the above three types of drug treatment when the condition is severe may not have a significant effect on the recovery of brain function.
However, since each patient's condition and personal physical condition are different, not all patients with brain atrophy need to use these three drugs; you can also use methylcobalamin, oryzanol and other neurotrophic drugs as directed by your doctor. Class of drugs treatment.
The specific types of medication and treatment plans need to be based on the patient's actual condition and cannot be generalized.
In addition to regular treatment, patients with brain atrophy also need to pay attention to daily care. Correct care has certain benefits for the recovery of the condition and can get twice the result with half the effort.
4. How should patients with brain atrophy be cared for on a daily basis?
Daily care for patients with brain atrophy mainly starts from three points, namely exercise, diet, and living habits .
In terms of exercise, it is recommended that patients perform physical labor and exercise appropriately, such as jogging, skipping , swimming and other aerobic exercises. The physical activities of patients with brain atrophy are not restricted, so they can do more exercises to improve their physical fitness and enhance the body's disease resistance.
In terms of diet, it is recommended that patients maintain a light, nutritionally balanced eating habit and eat less pickled products, barbecue and other unhealthy foods; avoid smoking and alcohol abuse, and avoid eating foods containing a large amount of food additives.
You can usually eat more foods with brain-boosting effects, such as walnuts, almonds , etc.; you can also eat more foods rich in vitamin C, vitamin a and other nutrients, such as carrots, lemon, kiwi fruit , tomato , etc.
Vitamin intake can speed up the body's metabolism and promote the excretion of harmful substances and garbage in the body, thus improving the body's immunity and also beneficial to brain health.
In terms of living habits, it is recommended that patients maintain a stable work and rest schedule. Frequent staying up late and insufficient sleep time will cause the brain to not get adequate rest. The brain nerves will be in a tight state for a long time , which is not conducive to the recovery of brain atrophy, and may even aggravate the condition.
Secondly, if the patient has language dysfunction phenomenon, such as being unable to describe his thoughts through words, forgetting some words, being unable to connect words and sentences, etc., it is recommended that the patient be actively trained language function .
For example, more tongue exercises can be performed to exercise the patient's vocal cords, tongue and other parts by vocal cord vibration ; breathing exercises can also be performed to adjust the airflow in the mouth. These exercises are beneficial for speech recovery.
You should also communicate more with the patient in daily life, let them speak more, strengthen the patient's vocal organ function, and promote the recovery of language function. You can increase the patient's interest in training through storytelling, tongue twisters and other methods to avoid psychological burden on patients due to excessive practice.
is written at the end
As you get older, the chance of suffering from brain atrophy will gradually increase. If you are worried about suffering from brain atrophy, it is recommended to follow the above methods to take daily care to reduce the chance of brain atrophy.
If prevention is not successful and the patient has been diagnosed with brain atrophy, the patient does not need to worry too much. He can go to the hospital for relevant treatment in time and follow the doctor's advice to use the above three types of drugs for treatment to promote recovery. During treatment, daily care should also be done to promote recovery.
References
【1】Dong Jingde. Brain atrophy and cognitive impairment [J]. Practical Gerontology , 2015, 29(04):277-279.
【2】Tong Xuanxia, Sun Zhongwu. Commonly used clinical brain Atrophy assessment methods and their progress[J]. International Journal of Neurology and Neurosurgery, 2015,42(05):459-462.
【3】Gao Wenjie, Feng Honglin. Vascular cerebral hypoperfusion and Research on the relationship between brain atrophy[J]. Journal of Brain and Neurological Diseases, 2019, 27(11):707-709.
[4] Liu Zhencai, Zhao Mei, Chen Qinjin, Xu Xiaoyun, Luo Zheng, Hao Junjie. Elderly Clinical characteristics of patients with generalized cerebral atrophy complicated by cognitive dysfunction[J]. Chinese Journal of Gerontology,2017,37(06):1482-1483.
