When people behave "funny": there is no laughter

Today, there are more and more people who are worried about their memory - not only the elderly, but also 40-50-year-olds. Often their complaints can be combined, they are roughly the following: "Doctor, I can not remember names anymore." The meeting of someone who has been a part of my life for years, the name spins on the tongue, but I can not remember.This happens more often In everything else, I'm still normal, does not that mean the loss of memory that I have Alzheimer's? "

This anxiety is so strong that such people often ask for a thorough neurological examination. When everything is normal, as usually happens, they calm down. " Senile dementia, " however, is a significant problem today. But nevertheless, the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is too often put. We are too inclined to label "senile" just an elderly person. Here are some other reasons why an elderly person can behave "strangely."

When a person at any age begins to "get confused", make sure with the help of a neurologist that the cause is not a brain tumor, stroke or some other neurological disorder. When these diseases are excluded, five common non-neurological conditions that trigger symptoms similar to Alzheimer's:

• Poor nutrition,
• Medicines,
• depression,
• Untreated head injury
• Chronic hypothermia (hypothermia).

They are all treated and often reversible.

Eating of the elderly is often meager, lonely old people often do not have enough money, energy, desire, good eyesight or, like many widowers, the ability to cook decent food. The condition of the remaining teeth in them can be such that chewing is a problem, and this is why the choice of food is even more limited. In many urban areas, the elderly are afraid to leave their apartments even during the day, so do not go too often to the stores to buy food. They develop deficiency of water-soluble vitamins, especially group B, which are so important for normal function of the brain. It has been repeatedly confirmed that many elderly people with mental "inhibition" immediately recover when they get healthy food. In my opinion, every elderly person, especially single, should take a multivitamin, just to be calm. You can argue about their universal use, but when it comes to the elderly, why not give yourself guarantees? Of course, no pills will replace a full-fledged food, but they will reduce the probability of deficiency of especially essential vitamins and salts, which can cause both physical illness and mental disabilities.

Another common cause of mental changes in the elderly is medication . We are a nation of pills: we accept the "urging" and "braking" in terrible quantities, we accept to cope with our mood, we take activators and appetite blockers to control weight. Many drugs are needed to treat diseases. But virtually every one of them, bought with or without a prescription, can influence a person's ability to think if it is taken in the wrong dose or at the wrong time, or if they forgot about it, or suddenly stopped taking it, or it is taken in combination with other medicines . Elderly people, whose cognitive abilities, especially memory and coordination, can already be somewhat modified, especially here are vulnerable.

Alcohol in excessive use changes the behavior of anyone, especially an elderly person. When you suddenly overload, you can develop a fever, with darkening of consciousness, depression, hallucinations and physical pain. A sudden cessation of the administration of any "psychoactive agent" can cause similar withdrawal symptoms.

Stimulants are also capable of influencing behavior. The street name for amphetamines is "fit", and the word comes up because they really drive you. The slang term for stopping amphetamines, the "collapse", is also accurate, because it is often accompanied by a darkening of consciousness and depression.

There is a long list of drugs used to treat mental disorders that can work miracles, but they can also interfere with mental processes: lithium, barbiturates, tricyclic antidepressants and bromides. The same effect can give drugs prescribed for "physical" disease - antispastic drugs, atropine, drugs cortisone and digitalis. Therefore, whenever you notice someone's changed behavior, first think about food and medicine.

Emotional problems can also cause or simulate dementia.

Another example from life, perhaps, will remind you of a situation similar to yours. At the appointment to the doctor came a patient in the past a great lawyer who was not yet 80 years old. He made a brilliant career, still fully possessed his abilities but, however, was terribly depressed. It turned out that his law firm merged with another, and his "otfutbolili", giving him an honorary title and position, which allowed him to do nothing. He never had any hobbies or interests in life other than work. Children have already grown up and lived separately. My wife died a few years ago. He was alone and simply could not adapt to the fact that he was not needed. His "I" could not reconcile himself to the fact that no one else turned to him for advice, while there were problems and cases, for the solution of which he could come in handy. He retired and, like in a vicious circle, was abandoned by friends who no longer found his society brilliant. A small problem with the heart led him to the doctor, but in dealing with him, depression and disconnection were most striking. It was easy to attribute this to all ages, but talking with a doctor very much helped him in a psychological sense. After he realized the reason, he estimated his depression, his tone began to rise with a temporary help to mood-raising drugs. Gradually, he began to explore new areas for the application of his outstanding abilities, and his "senile dementia" disappeared. And so did his need for "happiness pills"!

Those who are younger and working, those who do not have serious problems with finances and health, whose age does not constantly recall death and who have many friends, it is not always easy to identify with an elderly person who is clearly undergoing a change in his personality and sympathize with him. However, if you take the time to do this, you may find that, in fact, it is about longing, not about madness.

The seemingly minor trauma of the head , which is not even remembered, can give rise to changes in behavior. The base and the membranes of the brain are braided by a network of small blood vessels that become more rigid and brittle with age. The head blowing against the buffet door is enough to make them bleed. There is a congestion of blood, pressing on the brain. The first symptom may be a headache. However, later, some serious neurological events are possible, including general weakening of mental abilities. If you do not take into account the possibility of injury, a proper diagnosis will not be made and the unhappy patient will be taken to the affected Alzheimer's disease.

It can be said with complete certainty that today there are people in shelters whose behavioral deviations are in fact the consequence of undiagnosed subdural hematoma (the medical name of the pathology: "hematoma" is the accumulation of blood, "subdural" - localization in the skull). All that is needed to find it is a scan of the head and a high index of suspicion. The treatment is simple: cortisone (which causes a reverse absorption of blood) or removal of the hematoma through the needle. The results are very impressive.

Another often overlooked cause of mental changes in the elderly is hypothermia - the result of prolonged exposure to low temperatures. In some animals, cold weather so slows the exchange, that they fall into hibernation during the winter months. Living in a poorly heated apartment, the elderly can also earn a slowdown in exchange and a decrease in mental function.

Some diseases can affect the mental abilities of patients of any age. A high temperature can cause unpredictable deviations in the behavior of adolescents. Inflammation of the lungs is a classic cause of blackout in the elderly. If the heart or lungs do not work well, the brain may not receive enough oxygen, and the person becomes drowsy, disorganized, irritated, and it is difficult to bounce back. The pathology of the liver, kidneys, poisoning with industrial poisons - especially lead (possibly lead poisoning caused Van Gogh's weakness and suicide), mercury and manganese - can damage the brain and change behavior.

There are two special cases of temporary mental changes in hospitalized patients, which are very disturbing to those who observe them: the " sunset effect " and the loss of orientation after heart surgery .

A patient who has been hospitalized with a heart attack is given a large number of medications, including strong pain relievers and soothing ones. Because of the damaged heart, less oxygen enters the brain, confused consciousness, wrong orientation, even paranoia. These symptoms are more pronounced in the evening, hence the term "sunset effect". Many people who visit heart patients are worried when they see a friend or relative in such a state. Calm down, in most cases the patient will recover, as soon as his brain starts to receive the necessary amount of oxygen after the abolition of painkillers and sedatives and the change of the severe isolation of the intensive care unit to the comfort of a normal room with a more free schedule of visits. A similar situation happens after heart surgery.

Here are some questions that you should think about if you are observing somebody's mental or psychic abnormalities.

Has this evolved over months or years? If so, Alzheimer's disease is possible, but exclude the use or abuse of medicines and even malignant anemia (lack of vitamin B12).

If abnormal behavior occurs and disappears, a series of small strokes may be the cause. A complete neurological examination, including a tomogram, usually confirms this diagnosis.

Did you get a recent blow to the head, even easy? If so, then suspect subdural hematoma .

Anesthesia was not given to a person after surgery? He may suffer from their abolition.

Are there any medications that change mood in the medicine cabinet?

Do you not feel the smell of alcohol from the mouth in the morning, is there not a vague speech, bloodshot eyes and loss of appetite? Elderly people who continue to drink their "normal" rate may no longer be able to cope with it. Two martini glasses at the age of 75 will hit the head far more than they would have done in 45.

Was there any fever and chills before mental changes occurred? Infection in any place can be the cause.

Have you had any complaints about headaches? Any process in the brain, such as a tumor , infection , leaking aneurysm , will cause headaches along with behavioral changes.

Has memory worsened, most strongly at recent events - what did he eat at breakfast, where he put the keys to the car, - with the memory remaining for the events that took place a few years ago? This is typical for the onset of Alzheimer's disease. In far-reaching cases, memory loss is only part of the picture. There is also a darkening of consciousness, depression and involuntary emission of urine and feces.

If the age is between 20 and 50 years, look for abnormal movements and strange postures, and ask if any member of the family in previous generations suffered from a progressive Huntington chorea - a genetically transmitted disease that eventually leads to a complete neurological disorder.

Is there anything in the environment , at home and at work that exposes a person to lead, manganese, mercury or carbon dioxide? Any of these substances by inhalation or ingestion with food can damage the brain.

Have you noticed a general lethargy, a yellowish skin tone and a coarsening voice? The reason can be in lowering thyroid function .

Symptom: memory loss, confused consciousness and behavioral changes