It's one thing if you managed to get rid of extra pounds thanks to persistent exercise and diet, but it's completely different when weight loss happens quickly without any changes in lifestyle. In this case, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible for examination and consultation. The presence of a serious illness may be indicated by the fact that in less than a year a person loses more than five percent of body weight. Let's talk about ten diseases, one of the symptoms of which is sudden weight loss.

With diabetes, a person can gain excess weight, and unexpectedly lose kilos. Weight loss in diabetes occurs mainly for two reasons. Firstly, due to frequent urination, the body loses a lot of water. And secondly, due to blood sugar, the body absorbs calories worse. In addition, when there is a lack of insulin, the body begins to burn fat for energy, thereby causing overall weight loss.

According to research, significant weight loss is a common symptom of diabetes mellitus first and second types. Weight loss in diabetes may be accompanied by other important signs of the disease: excessive thirst, constant fatigue, frequent urination, intense hunger, wounds that do not heal for a long time, tingling in the limbs, etc.

2. Weight loss due to hyperthyroidism

Sudden weight loss and loss of appetite may indicate problems with the thyroid gland, in particular a disease such as hyperthyroidism. With it, there is increased activity of the thyroid gland and an excess of its hormones in the blood. This subsequently increases the metabolic rate and the body's ability to burn fat. In addition to rapid weight loss, signs of hyperthyroidism include: rapid heart rate, hot flashes, excessive sweating, mood swings, depression, panic attacks, bulging eyes, muscle weakness and fatigue.

3. Stomach ulcer

People suffering from peptic ulcers also often suddenly begin to lose weight. Stomach ulcers are caused by inflammation that develops on the inside of the stomach wall or the upper part of the small intestine. This causes noticeable pain and leads to loss of appetite. Due to a person’s refusal to eat, frequent attacks of nausea and vomiting during a peptic ulcer, weight loss occurs. Some other common symptoms of this digestive system ailment are: a feeling of fullness after a few bites of food, bloody stools, chest pain, chronic fatigue.

5. Depression

Although it may seem strange, depression can also lead to unintentional weight loss. This common mental disorder results in persistent feelings of sadness, loss, frustration or even anger, which can affect various aspects of Everyday life. Often in this case, appetite decreases, which causes weight loss. Research in applied physiology shows that during depression there is a tendency towards hypoglycemia, in which the levels of thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) decrease.

In addition to poor appetite, depression is characterized by poor concentration, negative and even suicidal thoughts, sleep problems and other difficulties. However, in some cases, during depression, a person gains excess weight, trying to get rid of problems through frequent meals of high-calorie foods.

6. Oncological diseases

Unexplained weight loss is one of the first noticeable signs various types cancer, including prostate, breast, lung, pancreatic, ovarian and colon cancer. The uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells accelerates the metabolism, causing the entire body to wear out, using its resources to the maximum. This leads to loss of muscle and fat mass.

When cancer cells begin to spread throughout the body, it can negatively affect the functioning of various internal organs. Cancer can cause chemical changes in the body that make it difficult to gain weight, even despite eating a high-calorie diet.

Cancer treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy, also often lead to loss of weight and appetite. In addition to this, the treatment causes many side effects: nausea, vomiting, mouth ulcers, which makes the process of eating painful and uncomfortable.

This is an intestinal disease caused by inflammation of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. One of its symptoms is sudden weight loss. This occurs due to decreased appetite, food apathy, poor absorption of nutrients, loss of calories due to frequent diarrhea or gastrointestinal bleeding. Crohn's disease is characterized by relatively low level hunger and loss of pleasure from eating. Other symptoms of the disease: low-grade fever, diarrhea, decreased energy, cramps, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

8. Tuberculosis

Unexplained weight loss and decreased appetite are some of the known symptoms of tuberculosis. This infectious disease caused by mycobacteria affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body (lymph nodes, bones, digestive, reproductive and nervous systems). In addition to rapid weight loss, symptoms of tuberculosis include: frequent and coughing, persistent for more than a month, chronic fatigue, fever, night sweats, etc.

These diseases most often develop in middle-aged and elderly people. Such health problems also cause weight loss. A 2005 study by scientists from the London Institute of Psychiatry showed that weight loss is often observed even before the appearance of characteristic symptoms dementia. The accumulation of beta-amyloid (a peptide in the brain) disrupts the body's weight regulation mechanism, leading to accelerated weight loss and is one of the initial symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

10. HIV infection

People infected with HIV also lose weight quickly. Their immune system cannot get rid of the virus, which gradually destroys it, and the body stops fighting infections and diseases. If HIV is not detected and controlled early, AIDS may develop. In addition to weight loss, signs of such an infection include: night sweats, fever, sore throat and muscle pain, rashes, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Memory is an important function of our central nervous system perceive the information received and store it in some invisible “cells” of the brain in reserve, so that it can be retrieved and used in the future. Memory is one of the most important abilities of a person’s mental activity, therefore the slightest memory impairment weighs on him, he is knocked out of the usual rhythm of life, suffering himself and irritating those around him.

Memory impairment is most often perceived as one of the many clinical manifestations of some neuropsychic or neurological pathology, although in other cases forgetfulness, absent-mindedness and poor memory are the only signs of a disease, the development of which no one pays attention to, believing that a person is this way by nature .

The big mystery is human memory

Memory is a complex process that occurs in the central nervous system and involves the perception, accumulation, retention and reproduction of information received at different periods of time. We think most about the properties of our memory when we need to learn something new. The result of all efforts made during the learning process depends on how someone manages to catch, hold, and perceive what they see, hear or read, which is important when choosing a profession. From a biological point of view, memory can be short-term and long-term.

Information received in passing or, as they say, “it went into one ear and out of the other” is short-term memory, in which what is seen and heard is postponed for several minutes, but, as a rule, without meaning or content. So, the episode flashed and disappeared. Short-term memory does not promise anything in advance, which is probably good, because otherwise a person would have to store all the information that he does not need at all.

However, with certain efforts by a person, information that has fallen into the zone of short-term memory, if you hold your gaze on it or listen and delve into it, will go into long-term storage. This also happens against a person’s will if certain episodes are often repeated, have special emotional significance, or for various reasons occupy a separate place among other phenomena.

When assessing their memory, some people claim that their memory is short-term, because everything is remembered, assimilated, retold in a couple of days, and then just as quickly forgotten. This often happens when preparing for exams, when information is put aside only for the purpose of reproducing it to decorate the grade book. It should be noted that in such cases, turning again to this topic when it becomes interesting, a person can easily restore seemingly lost knowledge. It’s one thing to know and forget, and another thing to not receive information. But here everything is simple - the acquired knowledge, without much human effort, was transformed into sections of long-term memory.

Long-term memory analyzes everything, structures it, creates volume and purposefully stores it for future use indefinitely. Everything is stored in long-term memory. Memorization mechanisms are very complex, but we are so accustomed to them that we perceive them as natural and simple things. However, we note that for the successful implementation of the learning process, in addition to memory, it is important to have attention, that is, to be able to concentrate on the necessary objects.

It is common for a person to forget past events after some time if he does not periodically retrieve his knowledge in order to use it, so the inability to remember something should not always be attributed to a memory impairment. Each of us has experienced the feeling when “it’s spinning in your head, but doesn’t come to mind,” but this does not mean that serious disturbances have occurred in memory.

Why do memory lapses happen?

The causes of memory and attention impairment in adults and children may be different. If a child with congenital mental retardation immediately has problems with learning, then he will come to adulthood with these disorders. Children and adults can react differently to the environment: the child’s psyche is more delicate, so it endures stress more difficult. In addition, adults have long learned what a child is still trying to master.

It’s sad, but the trend towards using alcoholic drinks and drug abuse by teenagers, and even small children left without parental supervision, has become frightening: cases of poisoning are not so rarely recorded in reports from law enforcement agencies and medical institutions. But for a child’s brain, alcohol is a powerful poison that has an extremely negative effect on memory.

True, some pathological conditions that are often the cause of absent-mindedness and poor memory in adults are usually excluded in children (Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, osteochondrosis).

Causes of memory impairment in children

Thus, the causes of memory and attention impairment in children can be considered:

• Lack of vitamins;
• Asthenia;
• Frequent viral infections;
• Traumatic brain injuries;
• Stressful situations (dysfunctional family, despotism of parents, problems in the team that the child attends);
• Poor eyesight;
• Mental disorder;
• Poisoning, alcohol and drug use;
• Congenital pathology in which mental retardation is programmed (Down syndrome, etc.) or other (any) conditions (lack of vitamins or microelements, use of certain medications, changes in metabolic processes for the worse), contributing to the formation of attention deficit disorder, which, As you know, it does not improve memory.

Causes of problems in adults

In adults, the reason for poor memory, absent-mindedness and inability to concentrate for a long time are various diseases acquired during life:

1. Stress, psycho-emotional stress, chronic fatigue of both soul and body;
2. Acute and chronic;
3. Discirculatory;
4. cervical spine;
5. Traumatic brain injuries;
6. Metabolic disorders;
7. Hormonal imbalance;
8. GM tumors;
9. Mental disorders (depression, schizophrenia and many others).

Of course, anemia of various origins, lack of microelements, diabetes mellitus and other numerous somatic pathologies lead to impaired memory and attention, and contribute to the appearance of forgetfulness and absent-mindedness.

What types of memory disorders are there? Among them are dysmnesia(hypermnesia, hypomnesia, amnesia) – changes in memory itself, and paramnesia– distortion of memories, to which are added the patient’s personal fantasies. By the way, others around them, on the contrary, consider some of them to be a phenomenal memory rather than a violation of it. True, experts may have a slightly different opinion on this matter.

Dysmnesia

Phenomenal memory or mental disorder?

Hypermnesia– with such a violation, people remember and perceive quickly, information put aside many years ago pops up in memory for no reason, “rolls up”, returns to the past, which does not always evoke positive emotions. A person himself does not know why he needs to store everything in his head, but he can reproduce some long-past events down to the smallest detail. For example, old man can easily describe in detail (down to the teacher’s clothes) individual lessons at school, retell the literary montage of the pioneer gathering, it is not difficult for him to remember other details regarding his studies at the institute, professional activity or family events.

Hypermnesia, present in healthy person in the absence of other clinical manifestations, it is not considered a disease; rather, on the contrary, this is exactly the case when they talk about phenomenal memory, although from the point of view of psychology, phenomenal memory is a slightly different phenomenon. People who have a similar phenomenon are able to remember and reproduce huge amounts of information that is not associated with any special meaning. These can be large numbers, sets of individual words, lists of objects, notes. Great writers, musicians, mathematicians and people in other professions that require genius abilities often have such a memory. Meanwhile, hypermnesia in a healthy person who does not belong to the cohort of geniuses, but has a high intelligence quotient (IQ), is not such a rare occurrence.

As one of the symptoms of pathological conditions, memory impairment in the form of hypermnesia occurs:

• For paroxysmal mental disorders (epilepsy);
• In case of intoxication with psychoactive substances (psychotropic drugs, narcotic drugs);
• In the case of hypomania - a condition similar to mania, but not reaching it in severity. Patients may experience increased energy, increased vitality, and increased ability to work. With hypomania, memory and attention impairments are often combined (disinhibition, instability, inability to concentrate).

Obviously, only a specialist can understand such subtleties and differentiate between normal and pathological conditions. The majority of us are average representatives of the human population, to whom “nothing human is alien,” but at the same time they do not change the world. Geniuses appear periodically (not every year and not in every locality), but they are not always immediately noticeable, because such individuals are often considered simply eccentrics. And finally (maybe not often?) among various pathological conditions there are mental illnesses that require correction and complex treatment.

Bad memory

Hypomnesia– this type is usually expressed in two words: “poor memory.”

Forgetfulness, absent-mindedness and poor memory are observed in asthenic syndrome, which, in addition to memory problems, is characterized by other symptoms:

1. Increased fatigue.
2. Nervousness, irritability with or without cause, bad mood.
3. Meteor dependence.
4. during the day and insomnia at night.
5. Changes in blood pressure.
6. Tides and others.
7. , weakness.

Asthenic syndrome, as a rule, is formed by another pathology, for example:

• Arterial hypertension.
• Previous traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• Atherosclerotic process.
• The initial stage of schizophrenia.

The cause of memory and attention impairments of the hypomnesia type can be various depressive states (there are too many to count), menopausal syndrome occurring with adaptation disorder, organic brain damage (severe head injury, epilepsy, tumors). In such situations, as a rule, in addition to hypomnesia, the symptoms listed above are also present.

“I remember here, I don’t remember here”

At amnesia It is not the entire memory that is lost, but its individual fragments. As an example of this type of amnesia, I would like to recall the film by Alexander Sery “Gentlemen of Fortune” - “I remember here, I don’t remember here.”

However, not all amnesia looks like in the famous movie; there are more serious cases when memory is lost significantly and for a long time or forever, therefore among such memory disorders (amnesia) there are several types:

A special type of memory loss that cannot be controlled is progressive amnesia, representing a sequential loss of memory from the present to the past. The cause of memory destruction in such cases is organic atrophy of the brain, which occurs when Alzheimer's disease And . Such patients poorly reproduce traces of memory (speech disorders), for example, they forget the names of household objects that they use every day (a plate, a chair, a clock), but at the same time they know what they are intended for (amnestic aphasia). In other cases, the patient simply does not recognize the thing (sensory aphasia) or does not know what it is for (semantic aphasia). However, one should not confuse the habits of “zealous” owners to find a use for everything that is in the house, even if it is intended for completely different purposes (from an old kitchen clock in the form of a plate, you can make a beautiful dish or stand).

You have to invent something like this!

Paramnesia (memory distortion) are also classified as memory disorders, and among them the following types are distinguished:

• Confabulation, in which fragments of one’s own memory disappear, and their place is taken by stories invented by the patient and presented to him “in all seriousness,” since he himself believes in what he is talking about. Patients talk about their exploits, unprecedented achievements in life and work, and even sometimes about crimes.
• Pseudo-reminiscence- replacement of one memory with another event that actually took place in the patient’s life, only at a completely different time and under different circumstances (Korsakov’s syndrome).
• Cryptomnesia when patients, having received information from various sources (books, movies, stories of other people), pass it off as events they themselves experienced. In a word, patients, due to pathological changes, engage in involuntary plagiarism, which is characteristic of delusional ideas encountered in organic disorders.
• Echomnesia- a person feels (quite sincerely) that this event has already happened to him (or saw it in a dream?). Of course, similar thoughts sometimes visit a healthy person, but the difference is that patients attach special significance to such phenomena (“get hung up”), while healthy people simply quickly forget about it.
• Polympsest– this symptom exists in two versions: short-term memory loss associated with pathological alcohol intoxication (episodes from the past day are confused with long-past events), and the combination of two different events of the same period of time, in the end, the patient himself does not know what happened In fact.

As a rule, these symptoms in pathological conditions are accompanied by other clinical manifestations, therefore, if you notice signs of “déjà vu”, there is no need to rush to make a diagnosis - this also happens in healthy people.

Decreased concentration affects memory

Impaired memory and attention, loss of the ability to focus on specific objects include the following pathological conditions:

1. Attention instability– a person is constantly distracted, jumps from one object to another (disinhibition syndrome in children, hypomania, hebephrenia - a mental disorder that develops as a form of schizophrenia in adolescence);
2. Rigidity (slow switching) from one topic to another - this symptom is very characteristic of epilepsy (those who communicate with such people know that the patient is constantly “stuck”, which makes it difficult to conduct a dialogue);
3. Lack of concentration- they say about such people: “That absent-minded person from Basseynaya Street!” That is, absent-mindedness and poor memory in such cases are often perceived as features of temperament and behavior, which, in principle, often corresponds to reality.

Undoubtedly a decrease in concentration, in particular, will negatively affect the entire process of memorizing and storing information, that is, on the state of memory as a whole.

Children forget faster

As for children, all these gross, permanent memory impairments, characteristic of adults and especially the elderly, are very rarely noted in childhood. Memory problems that arise due to congenital characteristics require correction and, with a skillful approach (as far as possible), may recede a little. There are many cases where the efforts of parents and teachers literally worked wonders for Down syndrome and other types of congenital mental retardation, but here the approach is individual and dependent on various circumstances.

It’s another matter if the baby was born healthy, and the problems appeared as a result of the troubles suffered. So here it is You can expect a child to have a slightly different reaction to different situations:

• Amnesia in children in most cases, it manifests itself as memory lapses in relation to individual memories of episodes that took place during the period of clouding of consciousness associated with unpleasant events (poisoning, coma, trauma) - it is not for nothing that they say that children quickly forget;
• Alcoholization in adolescence also does not proceed in the same way as in adults - lack of memories ( polympsests) to events occurring during intoxication, appears already in the first stages of drunkenness, without waiting for a diagnosis (alcoholism);
• Retrograde amnesia in children, as a rule, it affects a short period of time before injury or illness, and its severity is not as distinct as in adults, that is, memory loss in a child cannot always be noticed.

Most often, children and adolescents experience memory impairment of the dysmnesia type, which is manifested by a weakening of the ability to remember, store (retention) and reproduce (reproduction) received information. Disorders of this type are more noticeable in school-age children, as they affect school performance, adaptation in a team, and behavior in everyday life.

For children attending nurseries preschool institutions, symptoms of dysmnesia are problems with memorizing rhymes and songs, children cannot participate in children's matinees and holidays. Despite the fact that the child constantly attends kindergarten, every time he comes there, he cannot independently find his locker to change clothes; among other items (toys, clothes, a towel), he has difficulty finding his own. Dysmnestic disorders are also noticeable in the home environment: the child cannot tell what happened in the garden, forgets the names of other children, each time he perceives fairy tales read many times as if he was hearing them for the first time, does not remember the names of the main characters.

Transient impairments of memory and attention, along with fatigue, drowsiness and all sorts of autonomic disorders, are often observed in schoolchildren with various etiologies.

Before treatment

Before you begin to treat the symptoms of memory impairment, you need to make a correct diagnosis and find out what is causing the patient's problems. To do this, you need to get more information about his health:

1. What diseases does he suffer from? It may be possible to trace the connection between the existing pathology (or suffered in the past) with the deterioration of intellectual abilities;
2. Does he have a pathology that directly leads to memory impairment: dementia, cerebral vascular insufficiency, TBI (history), chronic alcoholism, drug disorders?
3. What medications is the patient taking and is memory impairment associated with the use of medications? Certain groups of pharmaceuticals, for example, benzodiazepines, have side effects of this kind, which, however, are reversible.

In addition, during the diagnostic search process, it can be very useful to identify metabolic disorders, hormonal imbalances, and deficiencies of microelements and vitamins.

In most cases, when searching for the causes of memory loss, they resort to methods neuroimaging(CT, MRI, EEG, PET, etc.), which help to detect a brain tumor or hydrocephalus and, at the same time, differentiate vascular brain damage from degenerative one.

There is a need for neuroimaging methods also because memory impairment at first may be the only symptom of a serious pathology. Unfortunately, greatest difficulties in the diagnosis they represent depressive conditions, which in other cases force one to prescribe a trial antidepressant treatment (to find out whether there is depression or not).

Treatment and correction

The normal aging process itself involves some decline in intellectual abilities: forgetfulness appears, memorization is not so easy, concentration of attention decreases, especially if the neck is “pinched” or the blood pressure rises, but such symptoms do not significantly affect the quality of life and behavior at home. Older people who adequately assess their age learn to remind themselves (and quickly remember) about current affairs.

In addition, many people do not neglect treatment with pharmaceuticals to improve memory.

There are now a number of drugs that can improve brain function and even help with tasks that require significant intellectual effort. First of all, this is (piracetam, fezam, vinpocetine, cerebrolysin, cinnarizine, etc.).

Nootropics are indicated for older people who have certain age-related problems that are not yet noticeable to others. Drugs in this group are suitable for improving memory in cases of cerebral circulation disorders caused by other pathological conditions of the brain and vascular system. By the way, many of these drugs are successfully used in pediatric practice.

However, nootropics are a symptomatic treatment, and to get the desired effect you need to strive for etiotropic treatment.

As for Alzheimer's disease, tumors, and mental disorders, the approach to treatment should be very specific - depending on the pathological changes and the reasons that led to them. There is no single recipe for all cases, so there is nothing to advise patients. You just need to contact a doctor, who, perhaps, before prescribing drugs to improve memory, will send you for additional examination.

Correction of mental disorders is also difficult in adults. Patients with poor memory, under the supervision of an instructor, memorize poetry, solve crosswords, practice solving logical problems, but the training, while bringing some success (the severity of mnestic disorders seems to have decreased), still does not produce particularly significant results.

Correction of memory and attention in children, in addition to treatment with various groups pharmaceuticals, includes classes with a psychologist, exercises for memory development (poems, drawings, tasks). Of course, the child’s psyche is more mobile and better amenable to correction, unlike the adult psyche. Children have the prospect of progressive development, while older people only experience the opposite effect.

Video: bad memory - expert opinion

Having prescribed the medicine, the doctor begins to observe. The patient’s entire future may depend on the conclusions drawn from these observations: after all, the doctor’s actions depend on his conclusions, and the patient’s fate depends on the doctor’s actions. If the doctor is unable to assess the significance of what he sees, then his actions will be incorrect, his prescriptions will be erroneous, and by changing medications, he will harm the health of his patient. The doctor's insight in this matter is irreplaceable. You can easily find that most doctors have only a vague idea of ​​the observations that can be made after prescribing a medicine. Having prescribed the medicine, they are no longer able to see anything new. Only after long, leisurely and careful observations was I able to collect the information that I am about to offer you. If the homeopath's observations are careless and inattentive, then the results are uncertain, and the prescriptions will be equally uncertain.

It is obvious that the correctly prescribed medicine will work. In this case, its effect will manifest itself in changes in symptoms. The essence of the disease is generally presented to the doctor through the symptoms, just as we judge by the movement of the hands what is happening in a clock mechanism. Therefore, the doctor must wait patiently, observing the changes that occur, in order to decide from them: what to do in the future and what to refrain from. True, the doctor does not have to think about the latter for long: a sensitive and vigilant observer will always notice a sign telling him what not to do. Of course, if the prescription is made incorrectly, if the medicine does not have any effect, then there is no need to think twice. This is undoubtedly one of the possible observations.

So, the changes have appeared: what are they, how significant, what do they mean? While listening to the patient's story, the doctor should imagine a picture of what is happening. The effect of the medicine is manifested in a change in symptoms: their disappearance, strengthening or weakening, changing them in a certain sequence - this is what you should pay attention to first.

The most common effects of the drug include worsening or improving the condition. The deterioration can be twofold: the patient gets worse or the patient gets better. By worsening illness, I mean a situation in which the patient becomes weaker and the symptoms worsen. A true homeopathic prescription causes such a worsening of symptoms that the patient subjectively feels better. I call a true homeopathic exacerbation a condition in which the symptoms increase, but the patient says: “I feel better.”

Now we should consider all changes in symptoms in specific forms - occurrence, deterioration or improvement, duration, etc. We must make our judgment, evaluate each option for the course of these processes.

Just one general remark: assessing the symptoms and their changes, the homeopathic doctor must come to the conclusion: whether his patient is recovering or, conversely, the disease is getting worse. Quite often you will hear: “Doctor, I’m getting weaker,” but know that this is not the case. You have the opportunity to rely on the evolution of symptoms, which is more reliable than the patient’s opinion. Suppose he says to you, “Doctor, I feel much worse this morning,” but when you examine the patient you see that he is getting better. As soon as the patient discovers that you are satisfied with the results of the examination, he becomes inspired, gets out of bed and asks for food.

Of course, by observing the symptoms, you may find that he has indeed weakened; if the evolution of symptoms is directed not outward, but inward, you will immediately understand that this does not bode well for the patient, even if he himself thinks otherwise. Symptoms serve as a reference point for you. The allopathic doctor has nothing at his disposal except the patient's words; but a homeopathic physician cannot rely on words when evaluating the results of a homeopathic prescription. Both the symptoms need to be verified, and the patient’s opinion should be confirmed by the symptoms. Often the symptoms actually confirm the patient's words; but for the doctor only the evolution of symptoms can serve as an indicator.

The second general note: we must determine from the symptoms how deep the changes caused by the treatment are. If you observe only superficial changes, then you should study their significance, determining whether the disease is truly cured from the inside or whether only local symptoms are changing. Often, mildly and superficially acting medications, affecting only feelings and sensations, serve as a palliative for incurable diseases. In depth, the disease continues and progresses, but the patient becomes better. So the symptoms allow us to determine whether we have selected the potency sufficient to cure. To do this, it is enough to determine the direction of change in symptoms, especially in chronic diseases.

For example, a stooped person comes to your appointment, suffering for years from a dry, hacking cough. At first glance you understand that he has been ill for a long time. This patient is thin and nervous, his face is painful, with the mark of life’s adversities. He is poorly dressed and suffers from malnutrition. The existing symptoms clearly indicate an antipsoric drug, the medical history indicates that the patient has been in need of this drug for a long time. Upon further examination, your conclusion is confirmed.

Examination of the chest reveals insufficient expulsion, signs of tuberculosis, and a weak pulse and other confirmatory symptoms lead you to believe that the patient is slowly dying. You prescribe the selected remedy for him. A few days later you see this patient again: he has weakened even more, night sweats have appeared, and his cough has intensified. However, the homeopath is glad to hear this, because he was waiting for this exact exacerbation. But a few days later the patient comes again: the exacerbation not only has not ended, but, on the contrary, is increasing, the cough and sputum production are intensifying, and night sweats persist. When you see the patient another week later, you can note a steady deterioration. Before taking the medicine, the patient was in relatively good condition, but by the end of the fourth week of increasing deterioration he was already so weakened that he could not come to the doctor.

Case 1: Prolonged deterioration leading to death.

What have we done? We made a mistake; the antipsoric drug turned out to be too deeply acting and accelerated the destruction processes in the body. In this case, the desired reaction of the body was impossible, the patient was incurable. The question arises: what to do? Should we not give homeopathic medicine in such cases? The patient still gradually dies. If you are not sure of the effect of the medicine, or do not understand the nature of the deterioration, get ready to sign a death certificate.

In such incurable or doubtful cases, you should not use dilutions higher than 30 or 200, and at the same time carefully watch whether the exacerbation turns out to be too deep or prolonged. In such cases, in the presence of organic pathology, the doctor should address Special attention for symptoms that make one abstain from high potency: as a rule, these are chest symptoms.

Of course, all of the above does not apply to cases when you see the threat of such a serious illness, when you are afraid of its occurrence, but only when you are confident in its obvious presence. In the above case the medicine was probably given too late; it tried to activate the vital force, but in doing so it only destroyed the organism. In such cases, start with low dilutions. In any situation, the 30th dilution can be considered quite low.

The following observation can be made by administering the same high dilution to a patient similar to the one described, but before the disease has progressed so far. The prescription of the medicine is also followed by a deterioration, long and severe, but in the end you will find the desired reaction - improvement. The deterioration may last for weeks, until eventually the patient's weak body reacts and a slow but clear improvement begins. This is a good sign.

After three months, the patient is ready for the next dose of medication, after which the same sequence is repeated. Seeing this, you understand that the patient was on the verge; had he taken one more step, the cure would have been impossible. In doubtful cases, it is good to resort to low dilutions, keeping an antidote ready if the effect of the drug turns out to be undesirable.

Case 2. Long-term deterioration and slow improvement at the end.

If, after a few weeks, the patient feels a little better, and the symptoms are less pronounced than before taking the medicine, then there is hope that eventually a change in the evolution of symptoms will begin - from the inside out, giving hope for a final recovery. However, in this case, you will have to deal with long-term deterioration for several more years. In such a patient we are dealing with an organic pathology of some organ that has already begun. So, based on the effect of the medicine, you can judge the condition of the tissues and the prognosis for the patient.

Case 3. The deterioration occurs quickly, it is strong and short-term, and is followed by a rapid improvement in the patient’s condition.

After a quick, short-term and more or less severe deterioration, you always observe a lasting improvement. Pronounced, persistent improvement, a strong reaction of the body, and the absence of structural changes in vital organs characterize such cases. You may find organic lesions on the surface in non-vital organs. Thus, abscesses or suppuration of some minor glands may occur in parts of the body that are not vital. Such organic pathology is superficial compared to changes that can occur in the kidneys, liver, heart or brain. Distinguish for yourself organic changes in vital organs from those in structures that you can do without. A short, rapid and severe deterioration is something to dream of, because it is followed by an equally rapid improvement. In an acute illness, such deterioration should be expected after a few hours, and in a chronic illness, after a few days.

Case 4. Improvement occurs without prior deterioration.

In this case, there is neither organic pathology nor a tendency towards it. The chronic disease is shallow and concerns more the function of the nerves than the condition of the tissues. But remember: changes in tissues may be sufficient to disrupt the flow of vital force throughout the body, but too insignificant for a person to detect. In such a situation, a seriously suffering patient can be cured without any homeopathic deterioration. By the absence of deterioration, you will understand that the potency of the medicine was optimal, and the medicine itself is completely similar. You have no reason to always expect such a course of events. Too high or too low a dilution will only cause a disruption of innervation, but an increase in symptoms will let you know about this. In the case of a cure without a stage of deterioration, we know that both the medicine and the potency were correct, and this ensured the result. This is excellent for acute cases, but sometimes the doctor would prefer to see a slight deterioration at first.

Case 5. Initially improvement, and then deterioration.

It happens like this: a seriously ill patient, like those whom I described in the 1st and 2nd observations, comes to you, and after the examination you prescribe medicine. The patient returns a few days later and tells you that he felt better, for 3-4 days he felt completely healthy, all his symptoms disappeared. However, by the end of the week or after 4-5 days he becomes worse than before treatment. This is not so uncommon in severe cases with many symptoms - an initial improvement in a generally unfavorable condition. Analyzing such cases, you will come to one of two conclusions: a similar medicine partially had only a palliative effect, or the medicine was chosen correctly, but the patient is incurable.

In order to choose the right option, you must re-analyze the case and determine whether the clinic is really similar to the prescribed medicine. Suppose you came to the conclusion that your appointment was wrong; further analysis will show you that the remedy was similar in the most obvious, most severe symptoms, but not in the constitutional features. In the best case scenario for the patient, the disease simply returns to its original state, but the symptoms often change, and the doctor has to wait a long time for the picture to become clear, although the patient suffers greatly. It will be easier for the patient to survive this wait if the doctor immediately admits his mistake and says that he hopes to find the necessary medicine. It is amazing how the patient's trust in the doctor increases when the latter tells him the truth. Admitting a mistake earns respect and trust from an intelligent patient.

In curable cases, the effect of increasingly higher dilutions continues over time. When I say action, I mean external signs, it would be more correct to say “apparent action”, since in reality the medicine acts immediately, causing a certain condition in the patient, in which there is no need to re-give the medicine. This condition can last for a very long time, sometimes for months. In curable cases, the good condition will last a long time, and significant improvement is observed. If you observe a patient for a week, two or three and he says that he feels well, his condition is improving, and everything starts from 10,000, and at the end of the fourth week he suddenly complains of emptiness and powerlessness, then this task deserves your attention.

Has the patient done anything that could interfere with the effect of the medicine? Are you drunk? Have you inhaled ammonia fumes? Have you dealt with chemicals? No, nothing like that happened. Then things are bad. The effect of a medicine that lasts only a few weeks instead of several months should alert you. Especially if you don't find anything that can counteract the medicine.

Case 6. The period of improvement is too short.

The improvement from the prescription of a constitutional remedy is short-lived and does not last as long as it should. Return to the third observation: there was a short deterioration with a long subsequent improvement. Here, in the sixth case, you see too short an improvement. If immediately after taking the medicine there is a deterioration followed by a rapid improvement, then such an improvement will never be short-lived. If the improvement comes quickly, then it will last for a long time. If this does not happen, then something is interfering: unconscious or intentional actions of the patient. Rapid improvement indicates that the medicine has been chosen correctly, vitality has been preserved, and if all goes well, the patient will soon recover.

Too short an improvement can sometimes be noted in acute diseases. For example, with inflammation of the brain, the medicine relieves all symptoms for an hour, after which it is necessary to repeat the dose, but now the period of relief lasts only 30 minutes. Then you understand: this is too short-term improvement, the patient’s condition is hopeless. The action for some very “red-faced” conditions is immediate, in my practice - after 5 minutes; but only with improvement, which occurs after an hour or two, will the condition stabilize for a long time.

In acute cases, rapid improvement means that the organs are at risk of severe inflammation. In chronic cases, short-term improvement tells us about structural changes in organs that are destroyed, or undergoing destruction, or are in a very risky, unstable state. It is not always possible to detect these changes during life, but they exist. An attentive observer, who has years of honest work behind him, is often able to explain the meaning of symptoms without examining the patient. His statements about the patient seem like prophecies to family members; they place the doctor in a special place. They look at him as a sage who knows everything and penetrates into the essence of phenomena. This is achieved by studying the symptoms of patients, knowing the effects of drugs and the symptoms that occur after the effects of drugs. Thanks to this, he knows the reactions of a particular patient, whether they are fast or slow, and knows how medications act on a particular family member. If a doctor treats a family for some time, should he know something about them? This knowledge is the wealth of the old doctor, and the young ones have yet to acquire it.

Case 7. Complete disappearance of symptoms, but without relief of the patient’s general condition.

There are patients with hidden organic lesions, when a complete cure cannot be achieved. Thus, a patient with one kidney, or with fibrinous structural changes in certain organs, or with encapsulated tubercles, cannot be completely cured. In such cases, treatment is aimed at alleviating painful symptoms. Such a patient cannot be completely cured. This must be remembered in cases where several remedies have been used and each time the remedy works there is an improvement, but only to a certain extent. In other words, the medicine has a beneficial effect, but the patient is not cured and will never be cured. Medicines serve as palliatives and this is quite acceptable for homeopathic remedies in such a situation.

Case 8. Some patients exhibit most of the symptoms of the remedy taken.

These are hysterical, overexcited patients, hypersensitive to everything. They say about such a patient that he has an idiosyncrasy towards everything in the world. It is often impossible to cure such hypersensitive patients. As soon as you prescribe a high dilution, the patient becomes completely under the influence of this medicine and nothing else has any effect on him. The medicine subjugates the entire body of the patient. Its pathogenesis develops similarly to the course of the disease: with a prodromal period, a period of maximum manifestations and a period of decline.

Such patients are born testers; they react even to the highest dilutions. Having discovered this property in your patient, return to the 30th or 200th dilution. It is unbearable to work with such patients. For acute conditions, help them by using 30 or 200 dilution, and for chronic conditions - 30, 200 or 1000. Many of these individuals are born with hypersensitivity and will die with it. They cannot overcome their over-irritability and over-excitability. Such patients, however, are useful to the homeopath. As soon as one test is completed, they are ready for the next.

Case 9. The effect of drugs on test subjects.

Healthy people always benefit from drug trials if they are done correctly. It is important to carefully study and record the constitutional characteristics of the person who is going to become a tester - then you will subtract these symptoms from the results. They appear infrequently during testing. It is also important to note the changes in them.

Case 10. New symptoms appear after taking the medicine.

If many new symptoms appear after taking the medicine, the prescription was most likely incorrect. Sometimes this “new” symptom is just an old, forgotten or previously unnoticed symptom that has reappeared. The more new symptoms appear after prescribing the medicine, the more doubtful the prescription is. It is very likely that after these new symptoms disappear, the patient will return to his original state and there will be no improvement. In other words, the drug was chosen incorrectly.

Case 11. Return of old symptoms.

If old, once disappeared symptoms return, then the disease is curable. They disappeared because they were suppressed by new ones. When properly prescribed, it is common for old symptoms to return when aggravated by the drug, so that the symptoms disappear in the reverse order of their appearance. The current ones disappear and the old ones take their place. The doctor himself must understand that the patient is on the road to recovery and inform him about this; explain that the disease seems to go down steps. Often old symptoms come and go without changing the medicine: then nothing needs to be changed. If the old symptoms return and remain for a long time, it is necessary to repeat the medication.

Case 12: Symptoms change in the wrong direction.

For example, having made an appointment for rheumatism of the knees, feet or hands, you see immediate relief from joint pain. But the patient experiences increased pain in the heart or spine. In this case, you can note the movement of the disease from the periphery to the center, which requires the immediate administration of an antidote. When the disease moves from the center to the periphery, from vital centers - the heart, brain, spine, internal organs - to the surface of the skin, mucous membranes, this is good. This is why most gout sufferers feel best when their fingers and toes are at their worst. There is nothing worse than making a prescription for this and seeing an increase in heart symptoms: this leads to disaster. Skin rashes and pain in the limbs are good signs. I remember how I was once kicked out by a stern old lady, which was accompanied by a fair amount of vulgar abuse. The lady told me: “When you were invited, I could walk, but now my ankles are so swollen that I can’t move.” This patient found another doctor, but soon died. It is very dangerous to select a medicine only according to external symptoms, that is, a medicine that is similar only to skin symptoms, neglecting all the others - the general condition of the patient. This medicine can cure the skin disease, but not the disease. The patient himself will suffer until the rash reappears or moves to a new location.

Works for him without knowing any rest

Reason for altering the dress

Aging of a thing due to friction

Transformation process new thing to the old one

Simple name for depreciation

Reason for equipment write-off

Workaholic works for him

Loss of properties during operation

Fracture due to friction

Damage due to friction

Machine aging degree

Common cause of accidents

Changing the shape of an object due to constant loads

Loss of fixed assets of their consumer properties and value

Change in the size or shape of an object due to residual deformation from constant loads

Causes of slow speech in adults

Slow speech in adults may appear abruptly or develop gradually. The causes of this condition are different: disorders of the functional state of the nervous system, brain injuries that appeared after a stroke or thrombosis, or malignant neoplasms. In order to find out what to do and why your speech has slowed down, you need to consult a doctor. Only a specialist can recommend further examination and treatment for a patient with such a complaint.

Speech difficulties associated with slow speech

Speech difficulties come in many forms, including stuttering, dysarthria, voice problems and articulation difficulties. Accidents can damage the brain centers or vocal muscles. Sometimes these pathologies correct themselves naturally, but often have long-lasting consequences. Some diseases can cause difficulty speaking due to degeneration of muscle and nerve cells.

Some adults have had speech problems since childhood, and speech difficulties become a problem when the person becomes elderly. Patients describe this as a “speech obstruction,” “speech problem,” or “pronunciation problem.” Sometimes it can be difficult to change some speech difficulties that have been present since childhood, they are so built-in. The problem of slow speech often occurs due to problems and diseases of older people.

Brain injury that causes slow speech can be caused by a brain tumor, stroke, cerebral palsy, long-term use of certain medications, or degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

Why does slow speech occur in adults?

Speech impairment is a focal symptom. Speech impairment can occur either as aphasia or in a milder form - slow speech. Most often, a person has lesions in the cortex of the dominant hemisphere (in left-handed people - right). A person loses the ability to partially or completely use speech to express his own thoughts and feelings. Another reason for the disorder of expressive speech while maintaining its understanding (dysarthria). This is a lesion of the cerebellum, basal ganglia. As a result of disruption of these anatomical structures, flaccid or spastic paralysis of the speech apparatus may occur: tongue, pharynx, larynx, soft palate, muscles that lift the mandible, and respiratory muscles. The articulation of consonants especially suffers, speech is slow and sometimes intermittent. At the same time, the voice is often weak and muffled.

Diseases that cause slow speech

The causes of speech impairment in adults are varied in their etiology and pathogenesis, with symptoms of a large number of diseases. Slow speech may develop gradually, but it can suddenly impair speech quality and make people feel uncomfortable.

• Alzheimer's disease.
• Brain tumors.
• Dementia.
• Traumatic brain injury.
• Suffered a stroke.
• Transient ischemic attack (TIA).
• Alcohol intoxication.
• Diseases affecting neuromuscular structures, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis.
• Head and neck surgery for cancer.
• Neurological disorders of the brain, such as Parkinson's disease in old people or Huntington's disease.
• Poorly adapted prostheses.
• Side effects of drugs acting on the central nervous system, such as narcotic analgesics and anticonvulsants.

The brain is an extremely complex machine and consists of many different working areas. When one or more components stop working effectively, language and speech can often be affected. The severity of speech slowdown depends on the location of the process and the severity of the damage. Producing speech sounds can be very difficult, causing speech to slow down.

Doctor's advice. For any changes in speech, you need to contact a specialist to eliminate the cause, which may further threaten a person’s life

Stroke is the most common cause of slow speech

Hemorrhagic and ischemic changes in blood vessels occur quickly, so symptoms often appear suddenly and without warning.

The main symptoms of a stroke are:

• Speech disorders. If the lower parts of the left frontal lobe and the lower parts of the parietal lobe are damaged, motor aphasia may occur in right-handed people. The patient is deprived of the ability to speak due to a violation of speech motor commands. These older people are quiet. They are reluctant to engage in conversation and answer in monosyllables.
• Headache - possibly with altered consciousness or vomiting.
• Numbness or inability to move parts of the face, arms, or legs—especially on one side of the body.
• Problems with walking - including dizziness and lack of coordination.
• The effects of a stroke are accompanied by permanent changes such as bladder or bowel problems, pain in the arms and legs, paralysis or weakness on one or both sides of the body.

Parkinson's disease is accompanied by speech disorders

In Parkinson's disease, in addition to motor disorders, there are often pathological changes in the processes of phonation and articulation. The extent of speech changes depends on the predominance of rigidity, hypokinesia or tremors in the clinic, and also depends on the ratio and severity of the latter. Pathological changes in speech are often manifested by slower speech, decreased sonority of the voice, and aphonia (disappearance of the voice) may occur. A silent whisper (virtually inaudible) makes a person’s speech unintelligible, which is aggravated by monotony and the disappearance of intonations that are characteristic spoken language. In patients with hypokinesia, spontaneous speech activity decreases, their answers are laconic, and their speech is slow. With severe akinesia, speech becomes quiet, slurred, unexpressed and slow, so it becomes impossible to understand the patient. Only under the influence of great willpower can a person pronounce a word more loudly and clearly. Pathological changes involve the articulatory muscles, which leads to dysarthria, which becomes the main cause of slow speech.

There are many ways you can use in everyday life to make your speech clearer and easier to understand.

Pause between breaths while speaking

Use light and diaphragmatic breathing during a conversation to give more strength to your voice

Use gestures and facial expressions to improve the information content of speech

Avoid communicating in noisy or distracting environments

If real problems arise, other forms of communication can be used, such as writing a message or using an electronic device to talk

Important! If there are concerns about speech and voice, it is better to consult a qualified doctor or speech therapist to assess the degree and further correction

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The information on the site is provided solely for popular informational purposes, does not claim to be reference or medical accuracy, and is not a guide to action. Do not self-medicate. Consult your healthcare provider.

Ophthalmology - White eye syndrome with decreased visual function. Diseases with slow progressive vision loss

1. transparency of optical media - cornea, lens, vitreous body.

2. Normal functioning of the neuroreceptor apparatus - the retina and optic nerve.

3. The appearance of a clear, focused image of the object in question on the retina, which is caused by the refractive media of the eye, that is, what we call refraction.

The latter reason in approximately half of the cases causes patients, especially older and elderly patients, to consult a doctor with complaints of decreased vision, especially in the distance. These complaints are due to the fact that with age, the accommodative ability weakens due to the fact that the lens begins to sclerosis, thicken, and loses its elasticity. As a result, accommodation is lost and phenomena arise that are called senile vision (presbyopia). Approximately 80% of the entire population of the Earth are hypermetropic (focus collects behind the retina). In youth, the accommodative ability of the lens is sufficient to focus on the retina. With age, accommodative abilities decrease and people turn from hidden hypermetropes into obvious ones. Approximately half of the cases of patients visiting an outpatient clinic with complaints of progressive deterioration of distance vision are cases of detection of senile farsightedness, that is, accommodative asthenopia.

With age, the lens becomes denser, and phenomena of phacosclerosis (hardening of the lens) are observed. A denser lens refracts more strongly. therefore, in many patients, against the background of phacosclerosis processes, the phenomenon of myopization (myopia) is observed.

The second reason for decreased vision is a violation of the transparency of optical media.

Clouding of the cornea is most often the result of an inflammatory process (keratitis). A thorn to one degree or another is formed. Fresh cataract - you can try to restore the transparency of the cornea with the help of enzymatic drugs (lidase, streptodecase). If the process is old - layer-by-layer or end-to-end corneal transplantation.

Clouding of the lens is called cataract. Cataract is a persistent irreversible clouding of the lens substance (stroma) or lens capsule. Causes of cataracts:

1. age-related metabolic changes - age-related or senile cataracts.

2. Toxic cataract.

3. Radiation cataract.

4. Traumatic cataracts (surface, contusion, burn).

5. Congenital hereditary cataracts.

6. Complicated secondary cataracts (diabetic, endocrine, collagenous, gouty, infectious, etc.)

The lens is transparent due to the fact that the proteins that make up its structure are water-soluble. With age, oxidation processes begin to predominate, autolysis of proteins occurs and they become water-insoluble. All people experience phacosclerosis processes with age. During the aging process, every sixth person (15-20%) experiences a predominance of autolysis processes and the transition of proteins from a water-insoluble to a water-soluble state, and the lens begins to become cloudy.

The lens capsule may become cloudy - capsular cataracts. More often they are either toxic or congenital. The peculiarity of congenital cataracts is that they are non-progressive cataracts. All other catarcts are progressive. Age-related cataracts, which account for more than 90% of all cataracts, are often cortical, that is, the cloudier cortex is the outer shell of the lens located under the capsule. Nuclear cataracts are not uncommon, when the center of the lens becomes cloudy. Sometimes they are called brown cataracts. Cataracts are much less common when the space between the nucleus and the cortex becomes cloudy - zonular cataracts.

Stages of cataract maturation:

1. Initial cataract

2. Immature cataract

3. Mature cataract

Overripe cataract is currently an occasional case.

Complaints of slow progressive deterioration of distance vision. Deterioration of near vision appears after a few months. When examined in side lighting, a change in the color of the pupil is detected. Normally, the pupils are black. As the cataract matures, the pupil first becomes pale gray with a whitish tint, and in the stage of mature cataract it becomes milky white, sometimes even with a pearlescent tint.

Examination in transmitted light: weakening of the reflex from the eye, that is, the appearance of a cloud-shaped, spot-shaped, spoke-shaped opacities against the background of the pink reflex will indicate the onset of cataracts. In the stage of mature cataract there is no pink reflex. For a more accurate diagnosis of the stage of cataract maturation, data from a study of visual functions is used. If a patient from 5 m sees some lines on the Golovin-Sivtsev table, then he has an initial cataract. If at 5 m the patient cannot distinguish the letters from the table, and in order to see the SB he must be brought to the table, then he has immature cataracts. The stage of mature catarct is set when the patient loses objective vision and only has the function of light perception.

If cataracts are not treated, it takes 5-7 years from the initial to the mature stage. This disease often begins in old age (vlet). Since at this age the patient is still actively working, the task of doctors is to bring the patient to retirement age, and only then you can give the cataract the opportunity to mature to required condition and operate on her. Therefore, in the initial stages of cataracts, conservative treatment methods are used. Treatment should be aimed at stimulating recovery processes. Vitamins, active amino acids, microelements, antihypoxants, biostimulants, antioxidants, etc. are used.

The main treatment method is surgical. Cataract extraction is the removal of the cloudy lens from the eye cavity. After the operation, the patient sees better, but not as well as before, since the lens that refracted by 20 diopters is removed. The patient becomes hypermetropic high degree. Vision needs to be corrected. The most common method remains spectacle correction. Today, the most physiological correction method is contact correction. The most modern methods are intraocular correction (artificial lens).

Vitreous opacification.

A slow decrease in distance visual acuity can also result from destructive changes that are associated with age-related liquefaction of the vitreous. This is due to a disruption of the fibrillar structure of the vitreous body with impregnation of the elements of the vitreous body with intraocular fluid, which can lead to liquefaction and accumulation of products of the vital activity of internal tissues in the framework of the vitreous body. In transmitted light, against the background of a pink reflex, floating flies, flakes, small grains, and sometimes colored crystals are visible (a symptom of silver or golden rain). These changes cause corresponding complaints in patients, that is, complaints about the appearance of floating, flying flies. More often, complaints are associated with age-related changes in the structure of the vitreous body. Particularly dangerous for the vitreous body is the appearance of blood elements in its structure, even in microdoses. Blood appears as a result of traumatic, contusional injuries, wounds, surgical interventions, in older people due to weakness of the vascular wall (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, tumors of the choroid, degenerative changes in the retina).

Blood in the vitreous body causes very sharp phenomena of proliferation, fibrosis, that is, the formation of connective tissue cords in the cavity of the vitreous body, which are called moorings. The opposite ends of the mooring stick to the retina, which can result in retinal detachment.

Pathology of the retina and optic nerve.

Retinal pathology is primarily a vascular pathology, which is caused by changes in blood vessels due to cardiovascular diseases, endocrine, infectious, and degenerative diseases.

When the posterior parts of the retina are damaged, it is primarily the cones that provide daytime vision that are affected. Therefore, the leading complaint will be a complaint about a decrease in visual acuity or the appearance of local defects in the visual field - scotomas. Since cones are also responsible for distinguishing colors, a change in color perception may be a common complaint. When the peripheral areas of the retina are damaged, it is primarily the rods that are affected, which ensure the eye’s adaptation to different lighting conditions. A typical complaint would be hemeralopia (“night blindness”), that is, impaired vision at dusk.

With massive diffuse damage to the peripheral areas of the retina, concentric narrowing of the visual fields can be observed.

Diagnosis of retinal damage is mainly ophthalmoscopic.

1. Damage to the walls of blood vessels - the appearance of tortuosity, changes in the caliber, course of blood vessels, and their color.

2. Lesions of tissues located next to the vessels - the appearance of microaneurysmal petechiae, hemorrhages, transudation or exudation of plasma through the vascular wall leading to retinal edema, that is, everything that is associated with a decrease in the transparency of the retinal stroma.

3. The appearance of pathological foci - most often these are ischemic whitish, yellow, large or small foci in the fundus or, conversely, foci where there is excessive accumulation of pigment, that is, the appearance of black or dark brown pigmented foci, most often of irregular shape.

Diseases with changes in the fundus of the eye.

First of all, these are hypertension and arterial hypertension. The changes that are visible with increasing pressure can be divided into 3 stages:

1. hypertensive angiopathy (worm symptom) - the appearance of corkscrew-shaped tortuosity of small arterioles. At stages 1-2a of hypertension.

2. Hypertensive angiosclerosis - tortuosity of blood vessels and changes in the course and caliber of blood vessels. The vessels change their reflex: the arteries turn from bright pink to whitish (silver wire symptom), venules become darker in color, the reflex reflected from them acquires a golden hue (copper wire symptom).

3. retinopathy (at stage 3 HD) - retinal tissue is involved in the process. Due to the appearance of plasmorrhagia, hemorrhage in the fundus of the eye, multiple streak-shaped or flame-shaped microaneurysmal hemorrhages are visible, protein effusion is accompanied by yellow or whitish plasmorrhagia: the retinal tissue becomes cyanotic gray. The trophism (nutrition) of photoreceptors deteriorates, which affects visual function.

Diabetes. In 40% of cases it occurs in the ocular form. It is based on venous-capillary toxicosis. This leads to changes in small vessels, primarily the retina. A typical picture of changes in the fundus appears. Venous-capillary toxicosis leads to neovascularization, that is, to the appearance of newly formed small vessels. These newly formed vessels are functionally weak and immature. Therefore, they very often thrombose and rupture. At the site of the shed blood, connective tissue grows, that is, proliferation phenomena occur.

In the development of changes in the fundus in diabetes mellitus, there are 3 stages:

3. Proliferative retinopathy (fibrosis). Fibrous tissue prevents light from entering the retina and eventually leads to retinal shrinkage and detachment.

1. rational insulin therapy

2. symptomatic therapy - improving blood circulation, strengthening the vascular wall, stimulating therapy (reoferon, solcoseryl).

3. Photo and laser coagulation.

Dystrophic changes in the retina.

Sclerosing vascular damage leads to damage to the central fovea of ​​the retina (the area of ​​the optic nerve) - the macula. It is provided with blood supply only from the microvasculature (capillaries). Obliteration of capillaries leads to degenerative-dystrophic changes. These processes most often occur in old age (post-life) and are called macular degeneration. They are characterized by the appearance in the area of ​​the central fovea of ​​the retina of small whitish ischemic foci with microaneurysmal dilations of blood vessels, which can cause corresponding hemorrhages. Such changes are prone to proliferation and ultimately to the fusion of foci into a large conglomerate. This process develops over years, so patients complain of a slow decrease in visual acuity. They complain about the appearance of microscotomas, that is, areas of loss of the visual field that make reading difficult, complaints about impaired color vision. Treatment of dystrophic processes should be comprehensive, medicinal, stimulating, and vasodilating. The operation used is revascularization. Along the posterior pole of the eye, elements of muscle fibers are sutured from where vessels grow that improve nutrition of the area of ​​the posterior pole of the eye.

Among the specific degenerative processes, it is necessary to highlight retinal pigmentary degeneration (3-4% of patients complaining of decreased visual acuity).

Etiology: the leading one is the genetic hereditary theory. In 80% of cases women are affected. The disease begins to manifest itself at a young age. Over the years, such patients practically go blind. The disease is characterized by a slowly progressive course and is associated with autolysis of the retinal pigment layer. The disease begins from the extreme periphery. on the periphery of the fundus there appear many small, irregularly shaped focal changes that are excessively pigmented. Most often, these changes are observed along the course of large vessels. Over time, these lesions spread all the way to the posterior parts of the retina. The leading complaint of patients from an early age is hemeralopia. Over the years, a complaint appears about a pronounced narrowing of the boundaries of the visual field. Over the years, blindness may occur. New drugs based on genetic engineering. These are embryonic genes that are implanted into the posterior pole of the eye. They stimulate the proliferation of new pigment epithelium.

Diseases associated with damage to the optic nerve.

Non-inflammatory papilledema is papilledema. Caused by increased intracranial pressure (intracranial tumors, abscesses, hemorrhagic strokes, basal meningitis, trauma). The clinical picture of a congestive nerve disc is bilateral. During ophthalmoscopy, a significant protrusion of the disc tissue is striking, that is, it protrudes into the vitreous body. The boundaries of the disk become blurred, indistinct, and blurred. It can be seen that the vessels of the optic nerve head roll downhill from the disc tissue onto the retina. The arteries are narrowed, the veins, on the contrary, are dilated. If the cause of papilledema is eliminated in a timely manner, visual functions are restored and the process is reversible. A distinctive feature of damage to the optic nerve is the occurrence of central scotomas. With prolonged increasing stagnation of the optic nerve head, the process turns into optic nerve atrophy. Speaking about optic nerve atrophy in general, we can highlight the following etiological points:

2. outcome of inflammation (neuritis)

3. disturbance of trophism of the optic nerve (impaired blood circulation in the optic nerve trunk)

Ophthalmoscopy: there is pronounced ischemia of the optic nerve tissue in the fundus. Normally, the optic disc looks like a pale pink oval, but here it has a waxy color with a yellowish and sometimes milky white tint. The optic disc tissue is somewhat recessed. Sharp narrowing of all blood vessels. When atrophy of the optic nerve head appears, patients complain of the appearance of scotomas, hemeralopia and increasing concentric narrowing of the boundaries of the visual field. When there is a circulatory disorder in the optic nerve trunk, sectoral or square loss of visual fields often appear. Treatment: 1. Vasodilators (Cavinton, etc.); 2. Vitamin therapy (group B); 3. Electrical stimulation of the optic nerve. There may be transcutaneous and direct stimulation of the optic nerve.

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Virginity and the chicken egg. What is the connection between them? And such that the inhabitants of the Kuanyama tribe, which lives on the border with Namibia, in ancient times deflowered girls using chicken egg. Not much

Body temperature is a complex indicator of the thermal state of the human body, reflecting the complex relationship between heat production (heat generation) of various organs and tissues and heat exchange between

Small changes in diet and lifestyle can help change your weight. Do you want to lose extra pounds? Don't worry, you won't have to starve yourself or do strenuous exercise. Issl

Lethargy

Inhibition of a person’s mental processes and behavioral reactions can be caused by various reasons: fatigue, illness, exposure to tranquilizers that slow down organic processes, negative emotional states such as stress, depression, sadness, apathy.

Retardation is a decrease in an individual’s reaction speed, a slower flow of thought processes, and the appearance of protracted speech with long pauses. In extreme cases, a person may completely stop reacting to others and remain long time in a daze. Inhibition may not be complex, but relate only to thinking or speech. In the first case it is called ideational, and in the second – motor.

Suppression of thinking is scientifically called “bradypsychia”. Not apathy or inertia of thinking. These are completely different conditions that have different pathophysiological and mental foundations. Bradypsychia is a symptom that often appears in old age. In any case, most people associate slow thinking with leisurely and eloquent elders. However, it can also occur at a young age. Indeed, under each manifestation of ill health there are certain reasons hidden.

Causes of slow thinking

The pathophysiology of the process is extremely complex and not fully understood. Thinking, behavior, emotional background and many other achievements of the human mind are associated with the work of the limbic system - one of the sections of the nervous system. And the limbicus cannot be properly deciphered. Therefore, in everyday practice, we can only name conditions - diseases in which bradypsychia is noted, but cannot answer the question of why it appears.

• Vascular pathologies. Acute, and more often chronic disorders of cerebral circulation, resulting from the progression of atherosclerosis, hypertension, embolism and thrombosis of the vessels of the head, are the cause of destruction of the brain substance. In particular, the structures responsible for the speed of thinking also suffer.
• Parkinsonism and Parkinson's disease. Narrower, but no less common pathologies, one of the manifestations of which is slowness of thinking. In addition to this depressing symptom for people around the patient (patients themselves in the later stages of development of this type of pathology do not notice any changes in themselves), there are many others that are no less unpleasant. For example, thoughts become not only slow, but also viscous, a person becomes clingy, annoying, speech is slow, often confused.
• Epilepsy. In the later stages of the disease, when doctors note the destruction of the personality as a result of the progression of the disease, lethargy occurs, as do many other signs of a change in thinking.
• Schizophrenia. Just as with epilepsy, with schizophrenia, bradypsychia is not an early sign of pathology.
• Depressive states and depression. A mental illness characterized by an abundance of symptoms, often disguised as somatic problems - even toothache or coronary heart disease. Among them there is also lethargy of thoughts.
• Hypothyroidism. Insufficiency of the thyroid glands. With this disease, the described symptom is extremely characteristic and is one of the first to appear.
• Toxic bradypsychia. Of course, there is no such group of diseases in the international classification of diseases. But the name still describes as clearly as possible the reasons for the appearance of the symptom - intoxication of the body, be it alcohol, metal salts, drugs or microbial toxins.

Of course, with this large quantities diseases, the number of types of treatment should also be large. Unfortunately, until scientists have finally figured out how the brain works, there are not as many of these species as we would like. The temporary effect of inhibition in speech and thinking occurs due to lack of sleep, when the body is already exhausted, or due to the use of drugs and alcohol, which inhibit mental and motor processes. That is, the reasons can be divided into those that block activities and those that reduce the possibilities for its implementation.

Symptoms of lethargy

The image of the patient fits into the classic description of a melancholic person: lethargy, slowness, drawn out speech, every word seems to be squeezed out with effort. It feels like thinking takes a lot of strength and energy from this person. He may not have time to react to what is said or may completely plunge into a stupor.

In addition to a decrease in the rate of speech and thinking, there is a muffledness of what is said - an extremely quiet and calm voice that occasionally breaks the silence. Lethargy is noticeable in movements and facial expressions, and posture is most often too relaxed. An individual may have a desire to constantly lean on something or lie down. It is not necessary that all manifestations of inhibition be observed. Just one is enough to claim that a person needs medical attention.

Diagnosis of bradyllalia

Persons with speech tempo disorders, including bradyllalia, need a comprehensive medical and psychological-pedagogical examination, which is carried out by a neurologist, speech therapist, psychologist, and psychiatrist. When examining a patient with bradyllalia, a detailed examination of the medical history regarding previous diseases and brain injuries is necessary; presence of speech tempo disorders in close relatives. In some cases, to clarify the organic basis of bradyllalia, instrumental studies are required: EEG, REG, MRI of the brain, PET of the brain, lumbar puncture, etc.

Diagnostics oral speech for bradyllalia, it includes an assessment of the structure of the organs of articulation and the state of speech motor skills, expressive speech (sound pronunciation, syllabic structure of the word, tempo-rhythmic aspect of speech, voice characteristics, etc.). Diagnostics of written speech involves completing tasks for copying text and independent writing from dictation, reading syllables, phrases, and texts. Along with a diagnostic examination of speech, for bradyllalia, the state of general, manual and facial motor skills, sensory functions, and intellectual development is studied.

When making a speech therapy report, it is important to differentiate bradylalia from dysarthria and stuttering.

Treatment of slow thinking

General preventive measures. The more the brain is loaded, the better it works. Unused during life nerve cells happily die off as unnecessary in the literal sense. Accordingly, the mental reserve decreases. Learning new things is possible at any age, but after thirty years it is significantly complicated by the slowdown in the development of new interneuronal connections. You can load your brain with anything, as long as it is not familiar to it. Learning a new language, solving mathematical problems, mastering new sciences, studying historical archives and understanding them. But! Solving crossword puzzles, scanword puzzles, and the like is like memorizing a large Soviet encyclopedia. Dry information only occupies cells responsible for memory, but not for thinking. Physical activity also helps keep the brain in “working” condition. It’s difficult to say what this is connected with.

Vascular therapy. It is impossible to bring the vessels to a state corresponding to the age of twenty, however, partial restoration is possible, which is what doctors use by prescribing appropriate medications.

Nootropics and neuroprotectors. A more specific treatment that helps nerve cells recover.

Psychotherapy is carried out only as a secondary addition to drug therapy. Modern psychotherapeutic techniques help to identify and eliminate the true cause of the disorder, form a new model of response to stressful situations, and correct personal assessment.

Before visiting a psychotherapist, the patient can only engage in prevention - all drug treatment has a significant number of contraindications, which the specialist takes into account when choosing one or another remedy. In case of bradypsychia, it is imperative to consult a doctor - there is not a single “easy” reason for such a mental state.

Forecast and prevention of bradyllalia

The prognosis for overcoming bradyllalia is most favorable with an early start of correctional work and psychological reasons for the violation of speech tempo. But even after developing normal speech skills, long-term observation by specialists and constant self-monitoring of the rate of speech are necessary.

To prevent bradyllia, it is important to prevent perinatal lesions of the central nervous system, head injuries, neuroinfections, and asthenic syndrome. It is necessary to take care of the child’s normal speech development and surround him with the right role models.

Muscle fasciculation

Anxiety

Dysphoria

Irritability

Dementia

Apathy

Hallucinations

Depression

Emotional lability

Paresthesia

Iatrogenesis

Drowsiness

Yactation

Phobias

The information on the site is provided for informational purposes only. Do not self-medicate, be sure to consult your doctor.

How is the differential diagnosis of cataract made?

Depending on the type and stage of development of cataracts, a differential diagnosis procedure is carried out in comparison with other eye diseases.

During diagnosis, the ophthalmologist focuses on all the symptoms and manifestations of the disease, studying the condition and performance of the visual organs using various devices and procedures.

During a differential analysis, the organs of vision are checked for other ophthalmological diseases with cataract-like symptoms:

1. Hemophthalmos is a more intense development of the disease with a sudden deterioration in the performance of the organ of vision. Formed against a background of diabetes or hypertension. A characteristic manifestation is opacification of the anterior vitreous. Read about the treatment of cataracts in diabetics in this article.
2. Retinal detachment is a rapid development with the formation of a “veil”. There is a characteristic gray reflex from the fundus, and during the examination the lens is clear.
3. Advanced glaucoma is a slow deterioration of visual function due to a narrowing of the area of ​​peripheral vision. Fundus with typical glaucomatous nerve atrophy. IOP increases, the lens becomes transparent.
4. Destruction is a slow deterioration of vision, most often due to inflammatory processes. Clear lens, destruction of the anterior vitreous with “rain” symptoms, pale pink reflex.
5. Retinoblastoma is manifested by concomitant pathologies in the form of strabismus, dilated pupil, in which a neoplasm forms. An ultrasound scan of the eye is performed to identify differences in the shape of the clouding.

Comparative analysis with age-related pathology

Diagnosis of senile (age-related or senile) cataracts begins with studying the history of the ophthalmological disease. The process of formation and its root cause are very important, because based on them the diagnostic method is determined.

The differential diagnosis of senile or immature senile cataract is made by comparison with open-angle glaucoma.

Symptoms characteristic of both diseases:

• advanced age;
• the primary stage of the disease passed without the patient’s complaints, and therefore it was not detected immediately;
• gradual deterioration in the performance of the eyeball.

Cataracts are differentiated by the transmitted light method, since the reactions of the eye in different diseases differ:

• cataract – problematic or absent reaction from the fundus of the eye;
• glaucoma – pink reflex from the fundus.

Signs of carrying out

Differential diagnosis of cataracts is carried out for reasons characteristic of the manifestation of the disease being compared.

Below is a table of differential diagnosis:

Signs of cataracts and glaucoma in the table

Correctly diagnosed ophthalmological pathology will reveal all the nuances of the disease and contribute to its correct typing.

If you need specialist advice, please contact us.