Senile dementia (senile insanity). Senile dementia: how to help a loved one and not go crazy yourself

It is not so much the patient himself who suffers from the disease, but his relatives. There are frequent cases of depression and nervous breakdowns in relatives of a patient with dementia.

Proper organization of the patient's life, his living conditions can alleviate his condition and minimize the negative manifestations of the disease.

Its signs are generally known to almost everyone, but only at the level of anecdotes. Although insanity is not funny at all. This is a rather serious and dangerous disease that can lead to disastrous consequences. In this article, we will describe the causes of such a disease as senile insanity, its signs, as well as treatment options. So, let's begin.

Senile insanity: signs

This disease is otherwise called "disintegration of the personality." It is characterized as the most severe negative disorder due to mental changes arising from atrophying processes in the brain. The onset of the disease is slow and inconspicuous. A more severe form of insanity is characterized by such signs as malnutrition of the tissues of the head cover, dystrophy of internal organs, and increased fragility of bones. A person with insanity also has a bad mood, loss of interest in life, impaired attention, speech, and a disorder of abstract thinking. It is generally accepted that in old age people's character deteriorates and that this is a pattern. But in fact, this circumstance can also serve as a symptom of such a disease as senile insanity. Its signs also include exaggeration of character traits, narrowing of the circle of interests. All this is due to a number of reasons.

Senile insanity: what causes it

The origin of this disease is not entirely clear. Many associate it with heredity or old age. Also possible causes of this disease are high blood pressure, obesity, constant stress, alcoholism.

Senile insanity: how to avoid

In general, this disease can occur not only in old age. Therefore, the following useful tips should be read by everyone without exception. In order to avoid this disease, it is necessary to keep the brain working without ceasing, in other words, to engage in intellectual activity. That is why all doctors without interruption argue that it is much more useful to give old people a magazine with crosswords and puzzles than a TV or radio. In addition, to avoid this disease, it is necessary to live an active and full life. As soon as a person begins to come to terms with the fact that he is old and his existence comes to its logical conclusion, he signs his own death warrant. You have to live life to the very end. Invest in your elderly relatives and give them at least a short trip, a new book or chess.

Let them develop throughout their lives, then they will be able to keep their minds and be happy until the last day.

How to treat senile insanity

The possibilities of drug treatment are extremely limited. There is no single remedy for senile insanity in the world. But still, if senile insanity appeared, what should I do? It is desirable to carry out proper care and observation of patients, to ensure that they are as active as possible throughout the day, of course, within reasonable limits. Vitamins will also help.

The body ages, and the brain ages with it, although old age is not at all synonymous with dementia. Many people in our country, even in old age, retain cheerfulness, a clear mind, sanity and a good memory. One of my patients, aged 78, taught at the university and was loved by her students for her sense of humor and optimistic attitude towards life. However, more often in old age, people's character deteriorates, irritability, outbursts of anger are observed, and memory deteriorates. Many relatives, noticing forgetfulness, untidiness, loss of interest in life in a loved one, decide that this is aging, natural changes in the body, therefore a person with insanity gets a consultation with a doctor only when disorders in his behavior make life unbearable for his relatives.

What is senile insanity

Senile insanity (dementia, dementia) is a disintegration of the personality, a mental disorder, which over time leads to the loss of the possibility of any contact with others, to the loss of elementary behavioral skills in all spheres of life. This disease causes mental changes that occur in the brain, treatment is often ineffective, it is an irreversible process of atrophy.

Only a psychiatrist can make a diagnosis of "senile insanity", and timely treatment can delay the inevitable onset of unpleasant consequences of the disease for many years.

The severity of senile insanity

• Dementia disease (dementia), as a rule, occurs in the elderly, at least 5% of patients over 65 suffer from it. They can no longer acquire new skills, while previously acquired knowledge is lost. Although senile insanity is by definition a severe disorder, in medicine, depending on the manifestations of the symptoms of the disease, there are three degrees of severity of dementia.
• mild dementia- the first manifestations of the disease, which lead to a decrease in the patient's social activity, unwillingness to communicate with relatives, colleagues and friends, loss of the patient's professional skills. He loses interest in the outside world, refuses his favorite hobbies and leisure activities. With mild symptoms of senile insanity, the patient can still serve himself, he normally orients himself within the house.
• moderate dementia- in everyday life, this stage of the disease is called senile insanity, the patient becomes a heavy burden for people close to him. A person forgets how to use the stove, the telephone, the TV remote control, he will not be able to open the door lock himself, he can no longer be left alone for a long time. The patient needs constant prompting from relatives, but he still retains self-care and personal hygiene skills. It is necessary to treat insanity even at this stage of the disease.
• Severe dementia (senile dementia)- characterized by the constant and complete dependence of the patient on the help of strangers, on his own a person cannot cope even with the simplest actions, he cannot dress, eat, and maintain hygiene.

The first symptoms of the onset of senile insanity

What symptoms in the behavior of an elderly person are considered sufficient grounds to see a doctor about the likelihood of getting senile insanity?

• Memory- a person remembers information about everyday events worse than before, while information about events from his past remains intact. A person with dementia forgets what happened yesterday, but remembers events from his youth very well.
• Behavior- the first symptom of the onset of senile insanity are signs of negligence, slovenliness. A person gradually loses interest in hobbies that were interesting to him before, especially efforts are required for occupation, he refuses the types of everyday activities that are difficult for him, and everyday difficulties begin to appear. A person is still able to take care of himself, but he needs constant reminders of this.
• Orientation- a person has become poorly oriented in time, but at the same time he understands well where he is. Problems with orientation can arise in an unfamiliar place.
• Thinking— slight difficulties appear when trying to solve simple everyday tasks, the selection of the necessary variant of action takes place more slowly than before.
• Communication- close people begin to notice that a person in old age gradually begins to burden communication, he loses independence in the performance of his usual duties.

Causes of senile insanity

The main cause of the disease is the death of brain neurons, which can be caused by toxic deposits in the brain or insufficient supply of the brain with blood vessels. This is primary dementia, and about 90% of all cases of senile insanity belong to it. Sometimes the deterioration of the brain occurs as a result of another disease, the course of which makes it difficult for the normal functioning of the nervous system. This is secondary dementia and accounts for about 10% of cases.

Treatment of senile insanity

For some reason, the population has established a strong opinion that senile insanity is incurable, age-related changes in the body of an old person cannot be corrected by any medicine. Such ideas are fundamentally wrong, the treatment of senile dementia is possible and often simply necessary.

Not all types of senile insanity are irreversible, often the disease recedes after the elimination of its cause. Even if dementia has come as a result of an incurable disease, modern modern anti-dementia drugs can slow down the rate of development of negative symptoms of senile insanity. Seek a consultation with a psychiatrist, only after an objective study and questioning of the patient, he will be able to diagnose the presence of atrophic processes in the brain. You can additionally conduct electroencephalography and computed tomography of the brain. Only a qualified specialist can prescribe treatment for a diagnosis of "senile insanity".

The main thing is to consult a doctor at the first symptoms of senile insanity, but if we are talking about a severe form of senile dementia, then there is still no effective method of treatment today, however, with symptomatic treatment of insanity, the patient's lot can be seriously alleviated.

For successful treatment, it is better for the patient to be at home. Provide the patient with maximum activity, involve him in simple household chores, this will slow down the course of the disease. With insomnia or hallucinations, the doctor may prescribe psychotropic drugs, in the early stages of the treatment of senile insanity, nootropics are prescribed, and tranquilizers are added later.

Treatment will help the patient to maintain contact with others for several years longer, to take care of himself. With the help of timely treatment, the time of live communication between the family and a loved one is extended, and part of the care burden is removed from close relatives.

How to deal with senile insanity

Take vitamin B12. Lack of this vitamin is one of the most common causes of brain dysfunction in old age. Studies have shown that 20% of people over sixty and 40% of people over eighty can develop "pseudomasmus" due to health reasons. This is a condition when a smaller amount of gastric juice is formed in the body, food is digested poorly, the body does not receive enough vitamin B12 and other B vitamins.

Take vitamin B6 and folic acid. Folic acid deficiency in the body leads to depression, brain dysfunction and senile insanity.

Eat tomatoes and watermelons. Older people with high blood levels of the antioxidant lycopene, found in tomato juice, tomatoes, and watermelon, are able to take care of themselves for longer.

Ginkgo extract. This herbal preparation stimulates blood circulation in the smallest vessels of the brain, dramatically improves the memory and mental abilities of the elderly.

Garlic. The substances included in its composition, as growth stimulants, act on the branching of nerve cells, restore mental functions, including memory.

Gymnastics. Even a little regular physical activity slows down the onset of symptoms of senile insanity.

Disease prevention

• eat a balanced diet, a healthy diet prevents the development of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure;
• get rid of bad habits, especially smoking and regular alcohol abuse;
• maintain physical activity, walk in the fresh air;
• maintain constant mental activity, education. Mind games compensate for the loss of neurons;

A person who has not started a family, according to medical statistics, is twice as likely to get senile insanity.

Symptoms of all diseases you can find on our website in the section

Mental disorders leading to insanity are represented by a whole group of mental illnesses of late age, which are combined according to a number of common features. Pathological changes in the brain are due to internal causes (including hereditary predisposition), and external influences play a provocative or aggravating role.

In most cases, the onset of the disease is slow and hardly noticeable to others. The course is chronic, with a constant increase in symptoms and irreversible. A characteristic clinical symptom is the development of dementia from almost imperceptible changes in intelligence to complete dementia. The general condition of the patient with insanity is characterized by severe physical exhaustion, malnutrition of the tissues of the skin, the development of dystrophy of the internal organs, increased fragility of the bones.

Senile dementia

Senile dementia(senile dementia) is characterized by a progressive breakdown of mental activity and the development of complete dementia due to an organic disease of the brain. Women predominate among the patients. The average duration of the disease is 5 to 8 years. Senile dementia begins unnoticed by the people around the patient. In some cases, infectious diseases, surgeries, cardiac disorders, and serious mental trauma contribute to the intensification of the manifestations of the disease.

Attention is drawn to the exacerbation of personal characteristics characteristic of the patient, and (or) the presence of signs of senile personality restructuring, which is expressed in coarsening of the personality, narrowing of horizons and interests, increasing signs of egocentrism, gloom, grouchiness of the patient, a tendency to suspicion and petty conflicts. At the same time, patients often become gullible - they easily succumb to someone else's influence, even to the detriment of their own interests. The characteristic manifestations of the disease include the disinhibition of lower drives (gluttony, the desire for vagrancy, sexual perversion, picking up unnecessary things).

Gradually, patients stop using the old vocabulary, the level of judgments and conclusions is significantly reduced. At the beginning of the disease, memory impairments are not pronounced (new material is not fixed in full and is quickly forgotten), later fixative amnesia is noted. In this case, the patient becomes disoriented in time, the environment and in his own personality.

progressive decay of memory occurs in a sequence opposite to the acquisition of knowledge for the entire previous life. Adequate perception is disturbed, which is often accompanied by a symptom of “living in the past”: in others, patients see people who have already died, consider themselves schoolchildren, their children can be perceived as brothers and sisters, and brothers and sisters as parents. A characteristic manifestation of senile dementia is the so-called senile delirium, which differs from the true one in that the cause of a violation of the knowledge of reality is not hallucinations, but defects in perception and orientation.

This is often associated with the desire for pseudo-activity, when the patient's behavior is characterized by increased efficiency, which does not bring a specific result. If the initial period of the disease is characterized by gloominess, depression, unwillingness to live, then later shades of complacency, euphoria, carelessness and, finally, complete indifference begin to prevail in the mood. The patient's behavior, as the signs of dementia increase, undergoes significant changes: at the stage of insanity, patients become helpless, lie in the fetal position and lead a plant lifestyle. A distinctive feature of this disease is the fact that even in the stage of insanity there are no neurological disorders. Night sleep is often superficial and intermittent, and during the day there is marked drowsiness. Senile dementia is characterized by increased speech readiness, and in later stages - meaningless talkativeness.

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is a disease that manifests itself in advancing age.

The average duration of the disease is 8-9 years with a manifestation (bright manifestation) at the age of 50-60 years. The disease progresses rapidly and is characterized by the development of dementia and the early addition of focal symptoms. A significant place in the manifestations of the disease is given to the decay of memory: amnestic disorientation quickly sets in and a complete loss of experience gained in life. Amnestic syndrome is rarely accompanied by a revival of past experience; there is usually no senile delirium. Disturbances of perception, comprehension and attention appear early and rapidly progress. At the beginning of the disease, patients are often aware of the changes that have occurred to them; at the later stages, complacency and dull euphoria predominate.

Typical symptom of Alzheimer's disease- early development of dementia components into neurological disorders. At the same time, patients lose their usual skills and stupidly perform well-known work. Subsequently, this symptom turns into persistent apraxia.

A manifestation of Alzheimer's disease is a progressive weakness of optical attention and instability of visual attitudes to surrounding objects. Changes in the early stages are characterized by efficiency and fussiness, and then are replaced by monotonous, simple rhythmic movements. The collapse of higher cortical functions in Alzheimer's disease is accompanied by impaired speech understanding: the stage of limited understanding is replaced by total sensory aphasia. With this disease, logorrhea (irrepressible word eruption), pathological illiteracy, and word formation disorder are expressed. A large place is occupied by various automatisms (forms of violent speech). Pseudo-stuttering is often encountered, when there is a varying degree of impairment: from the initial stumbling on the first letters or syllables to the constant repetition of sounds or "fragments" of words.

Violations of written speech usually appear in the early stages of the disease and often precede the decay of oral speech. Psychotic disorders personalities are common and can be represented by paranoid states, psychotic episodes of scattered delusional ideas of damage, poisoning or persecution, auditory and visual hallucinations, states of confusion, mental and motor excitations due to the acceleration of the atrophic process in the brain. In Alzheimer's disease, epileptic seizures are also recorded, which usually occur in the later stages of the disease (seizures are more often single). A frequent symptom of the disease is subcortical disorders: stiffness in movement, isolated gait disorders, choreoid and myoclonic hyperkinesis. At the last stage of the disease, against the background of the complete collapse of mental activity and the patient's complete helplessness, a sharp increase in muscle tone with a forced fetal position, cachexia in bulimia, endocrine disorders, violent grimaces of crying and laughter, oral and grasping automatisms are observed. An electroencephalogram shows widespread disturbances in the electrical activity of the brain and other characteristic changes.

Pick's disease

The disease refers to systemic atrophies with the preferred presence of atrophic changes in certain brain systems, characterized by the gradual development of complete dementia, impaired higher cortical functions and neurological disorders. With this disease, the main localization of the process is distinguished in certain lobes or areas of the cerebral cortex and arbitrary. This disease occurs 4 times less often than Alzheimer's disease. Pick's disease is most often recorded at the age of 55-56 years, and after 60 years it is much less common. The female to male ratio is 1.7:1 respectively. Slow onset is characteristic, but acute overt manifestations of the disease are possible. A distinctive feature of Pick's disease from other atrophic diseases is the predominance of deep personality changes in the early stages, and some functions of the intellect (remembering, reproductive memory, attention, orientation, sensory cognition) and automated forms of mental activity (counting) suffer less. Personality changes depend on the localization of the pathological process. With the defeat of the frontal lobes, inactivity, lethargy, apathy, indifference, dulling of emotions, impoverishment of mental, speech and motor activity are noted. The defeat of the basal cortex is accompanied by a pseudo-paralytic syndrome, euphoria, impulsivity, gross violations of conceptual thinking (generalization, understanding of proverbs, etc.), patients lose their sense of tact, lower drives are disinhibited. With atrophy of the temporal lobes, stereotypes of speech, actions, and movements are revealed.

Asthenic manifestations, initial psychotic disorders, focal changes, early manifestations of memory disorders can be recorded much less frequently. In the early stages of Pick's disease, gross memory impairments are uncharacteristic, but there is a violation of complex and various types of mental activity (the ability to abstract, generalize, integrate, flexibility and productivity of thinking, criticism and the level of judgments. In the later stages of the disease, against the background of dementia, some types of of elementary orientation and the remnants of the ability to remember, pronounced oral and grasping automatisms usually do not occur.In Pick's disease, a gradual disintegration of speech occurs with complete destruction of speech functions and the development of total aphasia.Loss of speech functions begins with the formation of speech stereotypes and "unwillingness" to speak.Loss of speech functions begins with the formation of speech stereotypes and "unwillingness" to speak. areas may be manifested by impaired speech.Writing disorders are characterized by a "stereotyping of writing."Psychiatric disorders in Pick's disease are rare and can be represented by paranoid syndromes, paranoid and hallucinatory-paranoid states. In some patients, states of relaxation of the muscles are recorded without a complete shutdown of consciousness. With a frequency of 25-30%, organic neurological disorders develop in the form of a parkinson-like syndrome and extrapyramidal hyperkinesis. In the last stages, the patient's condition with Pick's disease is characterized by complete dementia with a complete breakdown of speech, action and recognition, the development of insanity and complete helplessness. The electroencephalogram reveals smoothed "linear" curves and a general decrease in bioelectrical activity.

Huntington's chorea

Huntington's chorea is a hereditary form of an atrophic-degenerative disease of the brain. The first signs of the disease are most often recorded in middle and old age, they are manifested by common choreic hyperkinesis and other neurological disorders and are accompanied by various mental disorders.

The average age is 44-47 years, the total duration of the disease is up to 12-15 years. In most cases, the characteristic symptom complex of the disease is preceded by a period when psychopathic abnormalities can be detected in the patient: mental retardation, inferiority of motor functions (clumsiness, insufficient coordination of movements, poor handwriting, etc.). Mental disorders in Huntington's chorea can occur at different times after the appearance of involuntary movements, simultaneously with them or precede them.

Psychopathic deviations are divided into 3 types of personality anomalies: excitable (evil, explosive), hysterical (capricious, prone to demonstrative behavior), closed, emotionally cold personalities.

At the later stages of the disease, personality traits are erased, and pronounced emotional dullness with elements of a euphoric mood begins to prevail. Dementia in Huntington's chorea is characterized by the fact that with a slow course of the pathological (atrophic) process, it is not always complete. Some patients can perform their usual simple work, but are lost in an unfamiliar environment.

A characteristic feature of dementia in Huntington's chorea is a pronounced unevenness of mental performance (jump thinking). There are no obvious violations of higher cortical functions. Speech disorder in most cases is due to contraction of the speech muscles. Gradually, signs of impoverishment of speech increase, speech aspontaneity and “unwillingness” to speak develop. Psychotic disorders in the early stages of the disease are usually represented by mental disorders (unwillingness to live), delusional disorders (delusional ideas of jealousy, persecution, poisoning). In the later stages, delusional disorders occur (paralytic, ridiculous delusions of grandeur). The transition of some delusional disorders to others is possible. Hallucinatory episodes, hallucinatory-paranoid states are much less common. Neurological changes in Huntington's chorea are represented by generalized choreic hyperkinesis, which have a slow pace of choreic twitches with a small amplitude and relatively long intervals with a relatively low severity of reduced muscle tone. In most cases, Huntington's chorea leads patients to death in a state of complete dementia and insanity, and involuntary movements by this time are reduced or completely stopped.

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease develops mainly at a late age (50-60 years) and is caused by a degenerative-atrophic lesion of the extrapyramidal system of the brain. The course of the disease is chronic. The clinical picture is dominated by neurological disorders in the form of characteristic movements, hypertensive-akinetic syndrome (increased muscle tone, stiffness, poor movements, gait disturbance) and disorders of peripheral nerve centers. Mental changes are rare. The initial stage of the disease is characterized by the presence of irritability, affective instability, suspicion and importunity.

Depression can lead to a suicide attempt. In the later stages of the disease, patients have symptoms of an organic decrease in mental activity, a state of confusion, and other psychotic disorders. This period is characterized by an increase in apathy, indifference (“psycho-motor narrowing of the personality”). Severe dementia develops, the manifestations of which resemble senile dementia. In most patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, mental disorders occupy a secondary place, due to the local nature of atrophic changes.