Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic degenerative brain disease. Clinical manifestations include progressive distant and near memory impairment, loss of analytical judgment, mood changes, behavioral disorders, even blurred consciousness, and finally death by pneumonia or urinary tract infection.
The main symptoms of typical Alzheimer’s disease are forgetfulness and recognition difficulties. The patient often forgets to put the water in when cooking, and either the bottom of the pot burns through or the rice is half-cooked; he often gets lost when he goes out and is sent back; he forgets all the skills he used to have, such as knitting sweaters and making snacks; he does not even recognize his family members, such as his son and daughter-in-law; he picks up rags and garbage as “treasures”; he wears clothes and pants indiscriminately. They don’t even know their sons and daughters-in-law and other family members.
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease of the brain of unknown etiology, which often starts insidiously with mild forgetfulness and personality changes in the early stages.
For example, they often look for things they often use, are stubborn, subjective and capricious, often argue with others over trivial matters, and cannot listen to others’ advice. With the development of the disease, there may be difficulty in recognizing people in time, space and the surrounding area, and even “six relatives do not recognize”, mistaking their own son as “noble guest” and their own daughter as “a sister”. The “sister”. When going out, he does not know the direction and often gets lost. As the disease progresses further, the ability to comprehend, analyze, judge and calculate declines completely, and the skills previously acquired are lost, and the patient cannot even take care of himself. Some patients even have delusions of persecution or theft. In general, Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed by the characteristics of the disease and special examination methods. In addition, CT, MRI and positron emission tomography can be very helpful in the diagnosis of this disease.
There are preventive and curative measures for Alzheimer’s disease. The cause of the disease is still unknown, and it has been studied that there is a genetic predisposition. The treatment of the disease lacks a complete cure and effective preventive measures, but the following methods are generally available.
1.Delaying the process of dementia
Under the guidance of a doctor, take some drugs that reduce blood viscosity and promote brain cell metabolism.
2.Improve the patient’s mental state
For those who have symptoms such as nocturnal aggression, anxiety, delusions and behavioral disorders, they can take some tranquilizers or small doses of antipsychotic drugs, such as clorazepam, haloperidol and so on. However, the medication must be used with special caution, because the elderly are more sensitive to sleeping pills and anti-psychotic drugs, if improperly applied can cause dizziness, palpitations, decreased blood pressure, increased muscle tone, weakness, gnawing sleep, urinary and fecal difficulties and other symptoms.
3.Prevent the occurrence of diseases that affect brain function
Such as heart disease, lung infection, etc. Because these diseases can cause secondary symptoms such as cerebral hypoxia, impaired consciousness and delirium, which is undoubtedly worse for dementia patients.
4.Strengthen life care
Because the ability of self-protection and control of patients with severe dementia is significantly reduced, so try not to let patients with dementia go out alone, and if they go out, they must be accompanied by someone to avoid accidents. Pay attention to the patient’s rest and diet nutrition at all times, with a reasonable mix of meat and vegetables and easily digestible food. In addition, we should care about the patient’s daily life, promote and help him/her to bathe, change clothes, groom, urinate and defecate, etc. For patients who are bedridden for a long time, we also need to help them to turn over and change their position frequently to prevent bed sores.
Difference between Alzheimer’s disease and geriatric depression.
The clinical manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease and geriatric depression have some similarities, but it is not difficult to distinguish them from the symptoms, medical history, past history, family history, life history and pre-morbid personality.
1, depressed patients have similar patients in their families, and their previous personalities are more stubborn and introverted; while patients with dementia have no certain characteristics of their previous personalities.
2, depression often has a trigger, such as life, work and psychological difficulties and contradictions, their memory, understanding, calculation, judgment and other intellectual changes faster, from the onset to the consultation time is short; while dementia is the opposite.
3, depressed patients are emotionally depressed and bored with life, and this state of mind is continuous and does not shift with the environmental situation; while patients with dementia, although depressed, are easily shaken, feel submerged, and lack profound practical content.
4, depressed patients often blame themselves and even think of death; dementia patients even though they have a sense of misanthropy, but said soon after forgetting.
5, depressed patients are generally not accompanied by consciousness disorders, but memory, calculation, understanding, low judgment, disorientation, patients with intellectual impairment more conscious and not hidden; while dementia patients are mostly unconscious and not stressed. Depressed patients cannot answer even the simplest questions, but answer them by not knowing or forgetting; demented patients have to try to answer and be serious. Depressed patients are inconsistent between their complaints and behavior, and they cannot remember verbally but are accurate in their behavior; while dementia patients have more aggravated symptoms at night and are more consistent between their complaints and behavior.
6, CT examination, depressed patients are mostly normal; dementia patients often have brain atrophy, and brain waves often have non-specific abnormalities.
7. Depressed patients get better after taking antidepressants, and their intellectual impairment also improves rapidly, while demented patients get better after taking medication, but their intellectual condition cannot be improved. Therefore, once diagnostic difficulties are encountered, it is worthwhile to use medication to determine the difference between the two is of practical significance, because depressed patients can recover their health through treatment.