Many believe that reducing memory and deterioration of other intellectual functions are the norm for old people. In fact - these are signs of impending dementia. Therefore, it is very important to understand in time - where the normal age changes are completed and the emerging disease begins.
Content
- This is a violation of the most complex - cognitive (cognitive) brain functions, with the help of which the process of knowledge of the world occurs and interacts with it. This process includes four main interacting components:
- information perception;
- processing and analysis of information;
- memorization and storage of information;
- Information sharing, construction and implementation of a program of action.
But most often, when they talk about cognitive functions and disorders, they mean the memory as the most important component. The age deterioration of cognitive abilities begins approximately from 30 - 35 - 35 years, but the most significant changes occur between 45 to 60 years. For example, the volume of operational (short-term) memory decreases. This leads to the fact that the elderly is somewhat harder to acquire new knowledge and skills than people of young and middle age. It is also more difficult for them to work with several sources of information… At the same time, the age changes in cognitive functions do not affect the memory of current and remote events of life acquired in the past skills, vocabulary. Moreover, meaningful fragments of text are remembered by the elderly better than those who are not related words. Another feature of age-related memory changes - visually presented information is remembered better than the audience.
Cognitive abilities of adult healthy people are different, they depend on a number of factors. Therefore, their disorders can be told in cases where any disease or condition leads to a decrease in these abilities compared to the individual norm of a particular person.
- Unfortunately, most people - both in Russia and abroad, believe that reducing memory and deterioration of other cognitive functions are the norm for old people. Therefore, often patients and their relatives do not turn to those skilled in the arts until the stage of extremely severe disorders, when patients cease to learn others or lose self-service skills. Obviously, with such severity of disorders, our opportunity to help them is small.
In addition, the same boundaries between the norm and emerging disease can not always be diagnosed and doctors: neurologists, psychiatrists, gerontologists and representatives of other specialties. Although there are simple clinical and psychological methods of research, called screening scales, which allow you to trace the severity of disorders in the dynamics. Cause One: Until recently, this problem was considered not too significant all over the world. And only known demographic shifts in economically developed countries where it goes «population aging», put forward the question of cognitive violations on the incidental place in neurology. Yes, and not only in it.
If you answer the second question, the pronounced memory disorders are important symptoms of a number of neurodegenerative and vascular brain diseases.
- Which ones?
- The most difficult of them is dementia, or dementia. The reasons for it can be a lot - this is the infamous illness of Alzheimer, and the Dementia with Levy Tales (dementia arises 20 percent), and vascular encephalopathy (7 - 10 percent), injuries, tumors, infections (5 - 10 percent). But the result is always one - cognitive abilities are steadily reduced, which leads to disadaptation in everyday life. And first of all, the memory most often suffers. In the most severe cases, the patient ceases to learn others, even the closest people, is not oriented in space and time.
- Why?
- The fact is that dementia with all the successes of modern medicine and pharmacology cannot be cured. Medications, of course, exist, but they do not solve the problem dramatically, and even significantly affect the course of the process until it turns out. Experts understood - to start fighting the disease need much earlier. That is, diagnose and treat less pronounced violations. When studying the problem, it turned out that their prevalence is much larger than dementia. And each year approximately 15 percent of patients with moderate disorders go to the next stage - dementia, most often Alzheimerovskaya. And these are tens of millions of people - in America, Europe, Russia, and billionth costs. Only in the United States direct and indirect costs associated with dementia are estimated at about $ 100 billion annually.
The task of scientists and doctors is reduced to diagnose disorder at the initial stage, develop treatment methods. All over the world, specialized memory laboratories are engaged. A year ago she was created in the clinic of nerve diseases MMA. Sechenov, we already have more than 600 patients.
- If the dementia is incurable, how much moderate disorders are curable?
- So far we can talk about preparations that slow down the pathological process and are used precisely when dementia. Others just did not have time to create. The first to be used to apply the means to increase the activity of the neurotiator of acetylcholine in the brain. This substance is essential in the regulation of memory processes and other cognitive functions. Preparations Rivastigmine, Galanamin and others reduce the speed of its splitting than and contribute to the treatment. However, the positive results of the use of these drugs with non-replacement cognitive disorders to suspend the demeanment is not yet received.
The second group affects the neurotransmitter of glutamate, the excess of which damages brain cells. It means that it allows you to maintain the lives and performance of neurons. More subtle mechanisms are already involved here when the action of the glutamate on the synaps cell is not blocked, and if it can be expressed, optimized. The group is represented by the drug memanthin, which is one of the actively used drugs both in Russia and in Western Europe and the United States, and is used to treat Alzheimer's disease. However, as in the previous case, so far there are no accurate data on its effectiveness in the treatment of non-replacement cognitive disorders.
- Is it possible without a doctor and drugs, yourself, improve your memory?
- Psychological science knows today many mnemonic techniques - special strategies that allow you to increase memorization efficiency and are used both sick and healthy people. These are methods «Places» and «Words-hangers», «Visual chain» and semantic groupings, associations and a hint of the first letter… It makes no sense to retell them, because if desired, everyone can find a description and choose a way to soul. I just want to emphasize that training actually the very function of memory - without an associative component, visual images and.NS., by alone memorizing and reproducing words, drawings, objects or semantic fragments, as a rule, does not bring the desired effect.
