Mixed dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Dementia is colloquially referred to as acquired dementia acquired during life rather than at birth. It more often affects people of mature age and is associated with damage to the brain structure.

The disease usually develops in one of two directions: atrophic or vascular. There are also mixed forms that combine both options.

Atrophic dementia is associated with the destruction of brain tissue and accounts for the largest percentage of cases. This includes the well-known Alzheimer's disease, as well as Pick's disease, Huntington's chorea, etc.

Vascular dementia develops against the background of “spoiled” cerebral circulation and accounts for approximately 15% of all dementors. It occurs with a variety of symptoms, which depends on the location of the pathological process, the area of ​​the lesion and the caliber of the affected line.

Causes and essence of the disease

Vascular dementia develops due to disruption or cessation of blood circulation in one of the brain areas, as a result of which some brain cells die. The rate of progression of the process and the severity of symptoms will depend on how quickly the provoking factor acts.

Acute development of pathology is observed with stroke, ischemic or hemorrhagic. In the case of an ischemic stroke, a blood line is blocked by a thrombus. Its hemorrhagic form is characterized by rupture of the vessel. Both phenomena interfere with blood supply, which leads to irreversible death of cells in the brain area.

Typically, vascular dementia occurs in 25% of stroke patients. This happens if 50 ml of brain tissue is affected. The area and affected area play a big role. However, there are particularly sensitive areas of the brain, where even the slightest destruction entails disastrous consequences. These are, for example, the frontal lobes, visual hillocks.

For patients with vascular dementia, there is such a pattern: the first symptoms can appear either immediately after a stroke, or delayed, within six months. A period of 6 months is an indicative sign of vascular dementia. Typically, a stroke, especially a hemorrhagic one, leads to a rapid development of events, the appearance and increase of symptoms.

In a chronic destructive process, when small vessels are damaged, brain cell atrophy occurs gradually. Its compensatory mechanisms are activated, and symptoms increase gradually. The first signs are difficult to identify. Sometimes they hide not only from others, but also from the patient himself.

The main provoking factor that causes disruption of the patency and integrity of the blood network in the brain is atherosclerosis, that is, the deposition of sclerotic plaques on the vascular walls. Other reasons include:

• heart disease, cardiovascular failure;
• arterial hypertension;
• arterial hypotension;
• vasculitis – inflammation of the vessel wall;
• diabetes;
• hyperlipidemia;
• lack of estrogen;
• bad habits;
• excess body weight.

Rehabilitation in

The task of the staff of our rehabilitation center is not to treat the disease, since the processes occurring in the patient’s brain are irreversible. Our goal is to reduce the number, duration and severity of recurrent attacks, slow the progression of the disease and improve the quality of life of patients. The medical rehabilitation program includes:

1. Drug therapy.
   Depending on the type of disease, symptoms and degree of brain damage, the doctor may prescribe drugs that improve metabolism, normalize blood pressure, blood clotting, trigger the formation of new nerve cells, etc.
2. Occupational therapy and social adaptation.
   Our specialists help patients regain or maintain the skills they need for life.
3. Diet.
   All harmful foods should be excluded. The diet should be balanced. We do not use one nutrition program for all patients, but create it individually.

Many patients, especially older ones, do not tolerate a change of environment well, so their relatives tend to carry out rehabilitation at home. But at home, round-the-clock care for patients with dementia and comprehensive treatment are practically impossible. Nurses look after patients 24/7, and the rehabilitation program is drawn up and, if necessary, adjusted by competent doctors. A homely, cozy atmosphere allows us to reduce stress from a change of environment to a minimum: we have created all the conditions so that patients feel truly comfortable within our walls.

Chief physician

General groups of symptoms

The disease distinguishes two groups of disorders: cognitive and neurological.

Cognitive disorders come to the fore, that is, regression of cognitive and thinking functions.

At the initial stage of the disease, memory is primarily affected. At first these are subtle changes. A person forgets some events, individual names and dates, and cannot find the right word to express a thought. The process of assimilation of new knowledge worsens, and it becomes increasingly difficult for the patient to remember and analyze new information.

Gradually, amnestic symptoms increase. The person does not grasp the meaning of what was said, and it becomes more and more difficult to find words. Because of this, his speech becomes meager, his sentences are short and monosyllabic. If talkativeness manifests itself, then it is incoherent; letters in words can be rearranged, words can be replaced. The person himself does not understand the meaning of what he said. Speech impairment leads to difficulties with writing and reading.

Amnesia occurs in the following forms:

• progressive - the patient begins to forget what happened to him recently, and then earlier events;
• fixation – inability to perceive, analyze, store new material, current events. Consciousness in such patients is preserved; they remember well the events of the past, but cannot remember what they talked about with the person 5 minutes ago. Having bought milk, brought it home and put it in the refrigerator, a few minutes later they are going to the store again to buy it, since they have already forgotten that they purchased it;
• Paramnesia is false memories when the patient supplements reality with unreal events. For example, he may pass off as reality events read in a book or seen in a film, and believe that this actually happened to him. Or he simply fantasizes, passing off as reality what did not happen. It is possible that events may shift in time, that is, what happened many years ago is perceived by a person as having happened yesterday.

In addition to memory, other cognitive functions are affected in vascular dementia. Attention is scattered, it is impossible to fix it for a long time. Perception is disrupted. Thinking becomes inflexible. It is difficult to switch from one activity to another.

Often, as the process progresses, patients develop a symptom such as Korsakoff's syndrome, named after the doctor who first described it. It combines several symptoms. First of all, this is fixation amnesia. As already mentioned, the patient does not remember current events, but retains memory of the past. In this regard, he loses orientation in time and space. So-called amnestic disorientation develops.

There are also various variations of paramnesia: doubts about the occurrence of a particular event, their displacement in time, a mixture of fictional and true events.

Against this background, a person gets lost in an unfamiliar environment. He doesn't understand where he is. While in the hospital, he cannot find his bed, but in a familiar environment, at home, he finds his way around perfectly.

Treatment

Treatment of vascular dementia is based on the following principles:

1. Confirmation of diagnosis.
2. Elimination of the causes and mechanisms of the disease.
3. Treatment with medications.
4. Eliminate symptoms.
5. Prevention.

There is no such exact method of treating dementia; basically, therapy is carried out comprehensively. At the same time, it is very important to normalize blood pressure and restore cerebral and cardiac circulation as much as possible. In this regard, ACE inhibitors are prescribed together with diuretics.

To prevent recurrence of blood flow disorders and cardiovascular complications that affect the progression of dementia, it is recommended to take antiplatelet medications. The simplest and most accessible of these drugs is considered to be acetylsalicylic acid.

For hemodynamically significant stenosis of the carotid arteries and atherosclerotic plaques, surgical intervention is suggested. Patients with high cholesterol are prescribed statins.

To improve cognitive functions, the following groups of medications are recommended:

• Rivastigmine;
• Selegiline;
• Memantine.

All drugs that have a positive effect on cerebral circulation and neuronal metabolism are best taken in the early and middle stages of the pathology, when it has not yet developed into persistent dementia.

To relieve symptoms such as depression, anxiety, aggression, and hallucinations, special antidepressants and serotonin reuptake inhibitors are prescribed.

During therapy, it is necessary to strictly monitor the reaction to this process, since very often side effects appear against this background. Treatment should be reviewed periodically, since long-term use of the same drug is not recommended. It is also very important to psychologically support the patient, otherwise all treatment will not give the desired result.

Neurological disorders

In the initial stage of the disease, neurological dysfunctions manifest themselves as general symptoms. Weakness and fatigue, absent-mindedness, and irritability appear. I am bothered by systematic headaches and sleep is disturbed. There is an unstable emotional background. Depressive states are possible. The person is unrestrained, hot-tempered, and embittered. Emotional incontinence usually manifests itself in violent crying or laughter, weakness.

Among other neurological indicators, cerebellar syndrome occurs, characterized by uncoordinated movements. It seems that the arms and legs are moving chaotically. Because of this, the gait changes: it becomes shaky, slack. The person appears to be drunk. Instability of the step provokes falls.

The disease causes accentuation of personality traits. For example, if previously a person was scrupulous and meticulous, then pathology turns him into a picky grumbler.

Pseudobulbar syndrome is expressed by a triad of signs:

• dysarthria - pronunciation disorder;
• dysphonia – loss of voice sonority;
• dysphagia – problems with swallowing.

There are cases of paralysis and paresis, but quite rarely.
Muscle tone and reflexes are increased. Quite often, malfunctions in the functioning of the pelvic organs occur, and epileptic seizures occur.

In general, dementia of vascular origin is characterized by narrowness and fixation of mental processes, loss of flexibility of thinking, fading of cognitive abilities, and a narrow range of interests.

Cases of vascular dementia

Scientists have established for certain that the Russian writer, imperial maid of honor Smirnova Alexandra Osipovna, whom A.S. once admired. Pushkin, suffered from vascular dementia.

From her youth, she was distinguished by her gloomy mood or its swings, insomnia. At the age of 40, she suddenly lost weight and became haggard. I didn’t want to see doctors. She was treated on her own: sermons, rituals. Her heredity was burdened with mental disorders.

At the age of 69, her condition worsened further. Her speech became incoherent, she rearranged syllables in words and distorted them. Memory suffered and behavior was disrupted. The mental state deteriorated sharply, reaching the level of mental disorder.

According to data collected from eyewitnesses, Alexandra Osipovna was diagnosed with “atherosclerotic dementia.”

Another famous writer, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was also diagnosed with vascular dementia. She devoted her entire life to caring for her large family, fighting poverty and disease. In the last years of her life, after the death of her husband, Harriet lived completely alone. She exhibited strange behavior. Sometimes she came to Twain’s house and wandered around the rooms there. She didn’t pay attention to anyone, she was aloof. After walking around a bit among the people, she returned home. Her mental abilities had completely deteriorated, she practically could not take care of herself. The patient's memory underwent special destructive changes.

Stages of vascular dementia in humans

Each case of dementia must be considered individually, because the similarity of symptoms does not guarantee the same course and prognosis in the future.
The disease is characterized by the presence of certain stages, which, without proper correction, immediately move from the mildest to the most severe. According to this principle, the following stages of vascular dementia are distinguished:

• First
  . Occurs at the very beginning of the disease and is characterized by paucity of symptoms. A person notices a deterioration in his professional abilities. It takes longer to do your usual work, and it becomes difficult to remember simple things. This entails a decrease in motor and mental activity, rapid fatigue and depressed mood.
• Second
  . The patient's condition worsens. Lack of independence in everyday life is added to existing violations. A person cannot stay on his own for a long period of time because he loses basic self-care skills. At first he can't remember how to use the TV remote control or the microwave, and then he forgets what he uses to brush his teeth and eat. Orientation in the space of your own house or apartment is lost. Such lack of composure affects not only the patient, but also other residents of the house.
• Third
  . The last stage makes a person completely incapable of independent survival. Any action requires outside help and round-the-clock supervision. In the process, all acquired skills are lost (washing, combing hair, personal hygiene rules, holding a fork). There is a certain disadaptation to the conditions of the environment and society. The quality of life of such a person decreases to almost zero and can lead to disability.

Forms of vascular dementia

The brain provides us with conscious existence, being responsible for mental, emotional, and adaptive processes. Its substance is strictly structured. Each of its departments is responsible for its functions.

However, any part of the brain can undergo destructive changes, as a result of which a certain type of activity is disrupted. Based on this, several forms of the disease are distinguished, differing not only in location, but also in the caliber of the affected vessels.

Dysmnestic or lacunar dementia occurs against the background of destruction of small-diameter vessels. As a result, multiple infarct foci appear in the thickness of the white and gray matter. This is the most classic variant of the course of the disease, in which all pathological manifestations are not clearly expressed. There is a measured decrease in intellectual abilities, mild memory impairment, and slight slowness of psychomotor skills.

The multi-infarction form is accompanied by damage to vessels of medium diameter, and usually develops in non-acute pathological processes. Its manifestations are insignificant and go unnoticed for a long time even by the patient himself. Its course is gradual. The disorders first progress and then freeze at a certain stage until the next micro-stroke. Among the symptoms of this type of disease, cognitive impairment comes to the fore. Neurological and emotional disorders gradually develop.

Subcortical vascular dementia is a disease of small vessels, against which atrophy of white matter cells occurs with the formation of ischemic areas. Scientists see the reason for this process in the accumulation of amyloid in the walls of the arteries, followed by its inflammation. The clinical picture of the disease is somewhat atypical. It can occur as Alzheimer's disease or as isolated dementia.

Autoimmune vasculitis, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and panarteritis, cause another form of the disease - cerebral vasculitis. It is expressed by dementia and confusion. As a rule, it affects patients over 50.

Mixed dementia combines two forms: vascular and atrophic, that is, Alzheimer's type. Therefore, in the picture of the disease one can observe symptoms of both vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease, but the latter prevail over the former.

Vascular dementia: causes and mechanism of development

There are many causes of vascular dementia. The main risk factor for development is a person’s age: it has been established that a greater number of patients who were diagnosed with this disease have crossed the sixty-year mark. A higher likelihood of developing vascular type dementia is present in males. Smoking is a provoking element in the development of vascular pathologies. Most often, this type of dementia is determined in representatives of the Negroid and Asian races.

Vascular dementia often affects people with a low level of education, low intelligence, and blue-collar jobs. At the same time, people engaged in intellectual work are much less likely to experience cognitive impairment, since such people have large intellectual reserves of the brain. Low social activity, lack of meaningful contacts, monotonous boring work, and lack of mental stress provide a more rapid progression of the symptoms of vascular dementia.

The causes and provoking factors for the occurrence of vascular type dementia are:

• arterial hypertension - a persistent increase in blood pressure;
• arterial hypotension – fixation of blood pressure levels below the values ​​corresponding to the age norm for patient a;
• hyperglycemia – a persistent increase in blood glucose levels, which causes diabetes mellitus;
• disruptions in lipid metabolism in the body , causing an increase in cholesterol levels in the blood and leading to the development of atherosclerosis;
• acute disruptions in blood circulation in the structures of the brain;
• cardiac ischemia;
• heart rhythm disturbances – atrial fibrillation;
• congenital or acquired changes in the structures of the heart.

Despite the variety of provoking factors, doctors call the leading cause of vascular dementia precisely a persistent increase in blood pressure. Hypertension causes abnormal defects in the walls of blood vessels in the brain. The occurrence of microatheromatosis - atherosclerotic lesions of arterioles, becomes the culprit of severe pathological ischemic lesions - lacunar infarctions. The formation of lipohyalinosis - degenerative changes in the walls of small blood vessels in the brain causes a decrease in their elasticity. As a result of the above abnormal processes, a change in the physiological reactivity of blood vessels occurs. Remodeling of the vascular wall causes a structural decrease in the lumen of the vessels due to thickening of their medial layer. As a result, circulatory disorders occur in the structures of the brain, loss of brain tissue occurs, which causes a pronounced deterioration in a person’s intellectual potential.

Binswanger's disease

The pathology is named after its discoverer and is subcortical atherosclerotic encephalopathy. Develops as a result of damage to small cerebral vessels and is a fairly common form of dementia: about 1/3 of all dementors.

It has been established that arterial hypertension plays a major role in the development of pathology. It was observed in 80% of patients with this form. Most often, the disease starts after 50 years and begins suddenly. The first signs of it may be a transient disturbance of cerebral circulation, accompanied by sudden paralysis, which, however, also suddenly disappears. Other signs include small strokes and parkinsonism. A magnetic gait is observed when the legs seem to stick to the floor.

Emotional incontinence appears in the form of sudden laughter or crying, speech is impaired, and control over vital functions (for example, urination) is lost. Problems with memory and thinking appear already at the beginning of the disease.

The symptoms of the pathology are quite varied. After all, the process causes extensive damage to brain tissue with ischemia, destruction of nerve cell processes, and demyelination of nerve fibers. The process is accompanied by steady progression, although cases of persistent remission are possible.

Diagnostics

First of all, the diagnosis of the disease is carried out on the basis of the clinical picture, or, more precisely, the presence of cognitive and neurological defects in it. They significantly poison the patient’s life and do not disappear even with clear consciousness.

Correctly identifying symptoms, and subsequently prescribing effective treatment, allows timely diagnosis. Thanks to visual research methods, it has become very simplified, and this makes it possible to recognize the pathology in a timely manner without delaying treatment.

Among these methods are prescribed:

• MRI, CT;
• angiography, which allows you to assess the condition of blood vessels;
• rheoencephalography, which determines blood filling of blood vessels;
• EEG, which records the bioelectric signals of brain cells;
• nuclear resonance imaging, visualizing white matter, etc.

Consultations with related specialists are required: neurologist, cardiologist, psychiatrist. Blood pressure is systematically monitored.