How to treat memory in the elderly. Causes of poor memory and its deterioration. Causes of memory loss in the elderly

Age-related changes are associated with malnutrition of brain cells, atherosclerosis of blood vessels and negative influence hypoxia on brain processes. Older people often complain that their memory fails them, they forget both recent events and many episodes of the past. After 50 years, certain medications are used to prevent memory problems and normalize brain processes, and preventive vitamin courses are practiced. Regular intake of pills can improve the flow of brain processes and reduce forgetfulness in the elderly.

With age, memory deteriorates, and there is no escape from this, natural processes of dying off nerve cells in the brain area occur. The active onset of such changes falls on the age after 50 years, memory impairment reaches its peak by 70-75 years. Short-term memory is most often affected: older people forget where they put money or keys, they have difficulty remembering dates or events, they may forget visiting a doctor, taking pills or eating. In such conditions, help is needed, the use of drugs to slow down the processes of brain changes and restore the usual rhythm of life. This helps in old age to feel calmer and more confident, to refuse help and permanent care loved ones. Today, pharmacies have a large arsenal of pills that improve memory, but they can only be used as directed by a doctor.

It should also be remembered that among doctors and scientists there is still no unequivocal opinion about the effectiveness of all the drugs listed below. Numerous experiments confirm only some of the effects promised by pharmacists, and the latter are usually not as pronounced as one would expect. At the same time, some of these drugs at an increased dosage can lead to negative side effects.

nootropic medicines

These drugs have a specific effect on the brain, improving the flow of oxygen to it and nutrients necessary for the full activity of cells. A full supply of oxygen allows the brain to actively utilize glucose, which gives energy to nerve cells. This means that due to the action of these drugs, attention and the ability to concentrate are improved, memory is normalized and mental abilities are activated.

These drugs are prescribed by a doctor, for example, Nootropil (active ingredient piracetam) is indicated for elderly people who suffer from memory lapses, may forget their own name and address, and get lost on the way home. Start taking the medicine with a minimum dose, gradually increasing it as needed. The effect of the reception occurs after 1-2 weeks of use. However, these drugs also have negative sides, as they are taken for a long time, they lose their effectiveness, which requires an increase in the dose or interruptions in the intake, replacement with analogues. Additional indications for nootropic drugs will be head injuries, depression, mental stress.

Older people often suffer from a deficiency of vitamins that are actively involved in metabolic processes. Therefore, for memory problems, vitamins are recommended in combination with herbal supplements that have a nootropic effect (for example, ginseng). The most important for older people are B vitamins, ascorbic acid and vitamin A. But separately, older people take these vitamins poorly due to forgetfulness, skipping a dose. Therefore, you can choose complexes that combine in their composition daily dose all necessary materials and additional components that improve nutrition and brain function.

What means can appoint for work of a brain?

Often in old age, tablets containing glycine, an amino acid involved in the metabolic processes of the body, including the brain, are used. They are indicated for memory disorders, the presence of atherosclerotic vascular changes and amnesia. Due to the normalization of metabolic processes, the tablets increase the efficiency and activity of the brain, reduce anxiety, normalize the processes of falling asleep and improve the quality of sleep. The main advantage of these tablets is minimal amount side effects due to the fact that the amino acid glycine is a natural substance for the body. In rare cases, older people may notice allergies or individual intolerance to the drug, sometimes there may be slight drowsiness at first.

There are some pills that are most commonly prescribed by doctors in old age to improve memory and brain function. These include the phytopreparation Intellan, which is a set of plant extracts and, according to the assurances of the developers, helps in stimulating the brain by activating blood circulation in the cerebral vessels. This leads to increased delivery of oxygen to the brain cells. Indications for its use are problems with concentration and memory, the impact of stress on the elderly, manifestations of prolonged depression. However, for this drug there are restrictions, it is not prescribed to those older people who suffer diabetes, it is contraindicated for them. In addition, tablets give such a side effect as insomnia if the remedy was taken shortly before bedtime.

Often used are tablets such as Phenotropil and drugs containing piracetam (like the aforementioned Nootropil). They have a beneficial effect on the processes of blood circulation in the brain and metabolic circuits. Often drugs with piracetam are used in complex therapy in the presence of memory problems in the elderly, but it has an impressive list of side effects - it is allergenic, leads to insomnia and can increase the manifestations of heart pathologies.

Phenotropil is similar in effect to piracetam tablets, but it is also used in the treatment of addictions, with traumatic brain damage with a psychostimulating effect. In old age, it should be used only as directed by a doctor and before lunch. Tablets can lead to sleep disorders and sometimes give an increase in pressure.

When prescribing any pills, the doctor must take into account the main and concomitant effects of the drugs so that they do not harm in the presence of certain chronic pathologies - cardiac, digestive, excretory. All medicines are selected individually, after a full examination and identification of all diagnoses associated with memory disorders.

Memory disorders: why memory becomes poor, the norm and the relationship with diseases, treatment

Memory is an important function of our central nervous system to perceive the received information and store it in some invisible “cells” of the brain in reserve in order to retrieve and use it in the future. Memory is one of the most important abilities mental activity a person, therefore the slightest violation of memory burdens him, he breaks out of the usual rhythm of life, suffering himself and annoying those around him.

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

The big mystery is human memory

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

Information received in a glimpse or, as they say, “it flew in one ear, flew out of the other” is a short-term memory in which what is seen and heard is postponed for several minutes, but, as a rule, without meaning and content. So, the episode flashed by 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 of a person, information that has fallen into the zone of short-term memory, if you keep your eyes on it or listen and delve into it, will be transferred to long-term storage. This also happens against the will of a person, if some episodes are often repeated, have a special emotional significance, or take up different reasons separate place among other phenomena.

Assessing their memory, some people claim that they have a short-term memory, 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 a grade book. It should be noted that in similar cases, referring again to this topic, when it becomes interesting, a person can easily restore seemingly lost knowledge. It is one thing to know and forget, and another to not receive information. And here everything is simple - the acquired knowledge without much human effort was transformed into departments of long-term memory.

Long-term memory analyzes, structures, creates volume and purposefully postpones everything for future use indefinitely. Everything is kept in long-term memory. Memorization mechanisms are very complex, but we are so used 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 right subjects.

It is common for a person to forget past events after a while, if they do not periodically extract their knowledge in order to use them, therefore, the inability to remember something is not always to be attributed to memory impairment. Each of us has experienced the feeling when "it is spinning in the head, but does not come to mind", but this does not mean that serious disorders have occurred in the memory.

Why do memory lapses happen?

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

Sadly, the tendency to use alcoholic beverages and narcotic drugs by adolescents, and even by young children left unattended by their parents, has become frightening: cases of poisoning are not so rarely recorded in the reports of law enforcement agencies and medical institutions. But for the child's brain, alcohol is the strongest poison that has an extremely negative effect on memory.

True, some pathological conditions that often cause 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 impaired memory and attention in children can be considered:

• Lack of vitamins,;
• Asthenia;
• Frequent viral infections;
• Traumatic brain injury;
• 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 (whatever) conditions (lack of vitamins or trace elements, the use of certain medicines, a change not for the better in metabolic processes), contributing to the formation of attention deficit disorder, which, as you know, does not improve memory.

Causes of problems in adults

In adults, the cause of poor memory, absent-mindedness and inability to concentrate for a long time are various diseases acquired in the course of 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 injury;
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 trace elements, diabetes mellitus and other numerous somatic pathologies lead to impaired memory and attention, contribute to the appearance of forgetfulness and absent-mindedness.

What are the types of memory disorders? Among them are dysmnesia(hypermnesia, hypomnesia, amnesia) - changes in memory itself, and paramnesia- distortion of memories, to which the patient's personal fantasies are added. By the way, some of them, on the contrary, are considered by others to be rather a phenomenal memory than its violation. 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 set aside many years ago pops up in memory for no reason, “rolls”, returns to the past, which does not always cause positive emotions. A person himself does not know why he needs to keep everything in his head, however, he can reproduce some long-past events to the smallest detail. For example, old man he can easily describe in detail (up to the teacher's clothes) individual lessons at school, retell the literary montage of the pioneer collection, it is not difficult for him to recall other details related to studying at the institute, professional activities 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 with this phenomenon are able to memorize and reproduce huge amounts of information that is not related to any special meaning. These can be large numbers, sets of individual words, lists of objects, notes. Such a memory is often possessed by great writers, musicians, mathematicians and people of other professions that require genius abilities. 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:

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

It is obvious that only a specialist can understand such subtleties, distinguish between the norm and pathology. Most of us are average representatives of the human population, to whom "nothing human is alien", but at the same time they do not turn the world upside down. From time to time (not every year and not in every locality) geniuses appear, they are not always immediately noticeable, because often such individuals are considered simply eccentrics. And, finally, (perhaps not often?) among the various pathological conditions there are mental illnesses that require correction and complex treatment.

bad memory

Hypomnesia- this type is usually expressed in two words: "bad memory."

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

1. Increased fatigue.
2. Nervousness, irritability with or without it, bad mood.
3. Meteorological dependence.
4. during the day and insomnia at night.
5. BP drops, .
6. Tides and others.
7. , weakness.

Asthenic syndrome, as a rule, forms another pathology, for example:

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

The cause of impaired memory and attention according to the type of hypomnesia can be various depressive states (you can’t count everyone), menopausal syndrome that occurs with an adaptation disorder, organic brain damage (severe TBI, 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 not the whole memory falls out, but its individual fragments. As an example of this type of amnesia, one would like to recall the film by Alexander Gray "Gentlemen of Fortune" - "I remember here - I don't remember here."

However, not all amnesias look like in the famous motion picture, there are more serious cases when memory is lost significantly and for a long time or forever, therefore, several types of such memory impairments (amnesia) are distinguished:

A special type of memory loss that cannot be managed is progressive amnesia, representing a sequential loss of memory from the present to the past. The reason for the destruction of memory in such cases is organic atrophy of the brain, which occurs during Alzheimer's disease And . Such patients do not reproduce memory traces well (speech disorders), for example, they forget the names of household items that they use daily (plate, chair, 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 “radical” owners to find a use for everything that is in the house, even if it is intended for completely different purposes (you can make a beautiful dish or stand out of a used kitchen clock in the form of a plate).

This is what you need to figure out!

Paramnesia (distortion of memories) also referred to as memory disorders, and among them are the following types:

• Confabulation, in which fragments of one’s own memory disappear, and their place is taken by stories invented by the patient and presented to them “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- the 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 experienced. In a word, patients, due to pathological changes, go to involuntary plagiarism, which is characteristic of delusional ideas found in organic disorders.
• Echomnesia- a person feels (quite sincerely) that this event has already happened to him (or did he see it in a dream?). Of course, such thoughts sometimes visit a healthy person, but the difference is that patients attach special significance to such phenomena (“go in cycles”), while healthy people simply quickly forget about it.
• Polympsest– this symptom exists in two variants: short-term memory lapses associated with pathological alcohol intoxication(episodes of the past day are confused with long-gone events), and the combination of two different events of the same period of time, in the end, the patient himself does not know what really happened.

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

Decreased concentration affects memory

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

1. Attention instability- a person is constantly distracted, jumping from one object to another (disinhibition syndrome in children, hypomania, hebephrenia - mental disorder, developing, as a form of schizophrenia, in adolescence);
2. Rigidity (slow switching) from one topic to another - this symptom is very typical for epilepsy (those who communicated 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’s what a distracted one from Basseinaya 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 of attention, in particular, will adversely 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 features require correction and, with a skillful approach (as far as possible), may recede a little. There are many cases when 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 different circumstances.

Another thing is if the baby was born healthy, and the problems appeared as a result of the troubles suffered. So here a child can expect 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 occurred during the period of clouding of consciousness associated with unpleasant events (poisoning, coma, trauma) - it is not in vain that they say that children quickly forget;
• Alcoholization of adolescence also proceeds differently than in adults - the absence of memories ( polympsests) on 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 an injury or illness, and its severity is not as clear as in adults, that is, memory loss in a child can not always be noticed.

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

In children attending preschool institutions, symptoms of dysmnesia are problems with memorizing rhymes, songs, children cannot participate in children's matinees and holidays. Despite the fact that kindergarten the kid visits constantly, every time he comes there, he cannot find his locker on his own to change clothes, among other items (toys, clothes, towels) it is difficult for him to find his own. Dysmnestic disorders are also noticeable in home environment: the child cannot tell what happened in the garden, forgets the names of other children, each time he reads fairy tales he perceives as if he hears them for the first time, does not remember the names of the main characters.

Transient disturbances 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 treating the symptoms of memory impairment, it is necessary to make a correct diagnosis and find out what causes the patient's problems. To do this, you need to get as much information about his health:

1. What diseases does he suffer from? Perhaps it will be possible to trace the connection between the existing pathology (or transferred in the past) with the deterioration intellectual abilities;
2. Does he have a pathology that directly leads to memory impairment: dementia, cerebrovascular insufficiency, TBI (history), chronic alcoholism, drug disorders?
3. Which medical preparations is the patient taking and is the memory impairment associated with the use of drugs? Some groups of pharmaceuticals, for example, benzodiazepines, among the side effects, have such disorders, which, however, are reversible.

In addition, in the process of diagnostic search, it can be very useful to identify metabolic disorders, hormonal imbalance, deficiency of microelements and vitamins.

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

The need for neuroimaging methods also arises because memory impairment at first may be the only symptom of a serious pathology. Unfortunately, the greatest difficulties in diagnosis are depressive states, forcing in other cases to prescribe a trial antidepressant treatment (to find out if 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 drops, especially if the neck is “squeezed” or pressure rises, however similar symptoms not so significantly affect the quality of life and behavior in everyday life. Older people who adequately assess their age learn to remind themselves (and quickly remember) about current affairs.

In addition, many do not neglect pharmaceutical treatment to improve memory.

Now there are a number of drugs that can improve brain function and even help with tasks that require significant intellectual effort. First of all, these are (piracetam, phezam, vinpocetine, cerebrolysin, cinnarizine, etc.).

Nootropics are indicated for older people who have certain age problems which are not yet visible to others. The drugs of this group are suitable for improving memory in case of cerebrovascular accident 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 in order to obtain the proper effect, one must strive for an etiotropic one.

As for Alzheimer's disease, tumors, mental disorders, here the approach to treatment should be very specific - depending on the pathological changes and the reasons that led to them. There is no single prescription 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 for an additional examination.

Difficult in adults and the correction of disorders of mental activity. Patients with poor memory, under the supervision of an instructor, memorize poems, solve crossword puzzles, practice solving logical tasks, however, training, bringing some success (the severity of mnestic disorders seems to have decreased), is still especially meaningful results do not give.

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

Video: bad memory - expert opinion

Memory disorders are a common disease among the elderly. There are many etiological factors responsible for this violation. This is a special kind of memory loss, which, unlike the amnesia of the young population, is practically not amenable to complete treatment, and without it only progresses and worsens. Rarely does the disorder exist in isolation, most often there are problems with thought processes and call it senile dementia.

• Show all

  Senile memory disorders

  Partial or complete loss of memory is called amnesia and may be associated with various reasons. If it develops in old age and is combined with impaired attention and mental function, the disease is called senile (senile) dementia. This diagnosis is disappointing, as it means that the symptoms will get worse and worse over time.

  A decrease in cognitive processes leads to a significant deterioration in the quality of life of patients. Memory lapses deepen and progress with age. On early stages there is a partial loss of memory for current events - patients do not remember what they ate for lunch, whether they turned off the iron or not, whether they closed the door, etc. Over time, information about earlier events is lost, and in the later stages of the disease, patients stop recognizing even loved ones of people.

  

  short term amnesia

  This is the most mild form illness, begins with minor memory lapses and is sometimes a variant of the norm. Events that occurred in the nearest period are erased - current or occurred a month ago. After a short period of time, patients remember what they have forgotten. But if such amnesia drags on for a day or more, then you need to seek help to prescribe the appropriate treatment.

  Cause short-term memory impairment stressful situations, after the elimination of which the memories return. Patients become confused and frightened due to their condition, timely therapy will stop the progression of symptoms and allow long term stay with a bright mind and memory.

  

  Sudden loss of memory

  A separate type of disorder occurs suddenly and interferes with the implementation of routine activities. Often older people forget why they went to the store halfway to it or, going to another room, forget why they went there. This also occurs in young people, is associated with a high psycho-emotional load, previous diseases or chronic pathologies.

  With age, without appropriate therapy, the symptoms only worsen and even become dangerous. Amnesia can be taken by surprise anywhere, it confuses and frightens patients, thereby bringing even more stress and an increase in the severity of the disease.

  

  sudden amnesia

  The most mysterious type of memory disorder, there is no exact data on why it develops and how to predict it. People in this state are not able to remember anything from their lives, all information is erased from memory up to own name. Such patients do not know where they live, who they are and their relatives. It is rather difficult to establish the identity of the patient if he does not have documents with him.

  Sudden memory loss is dangerous because older people often get lost, they can travel hundreds of kilometers from home and only then come to their senses, while not remembering anything from past life. Sometimes it is not possible to establish their identity and place of residence.

  Who is more prone to memory disorders?

  In a person over the age of 60, the appearance of moderate memory impairment is considered a variant of the norm, due to the aging of the body. Severe memory disorders have been registered in 47 million elderly people on the planet (according to WHO), this figure is predicted to increase to 73 million.

  The leading cause of senile amnesia in the world is Alzheimer's disease, in Russia the leading position is occupied by vascular pathology of the brain.

  Causes

  
  

  The appearance of memory disorders with age is associated with many reasons. The main one is the changes that occur in the human body with the aging process. This physiological phenomenon occurring at the cellular level. With age, metabolism slows down, cells regenerate at a slower rate, and plastic processes decrease, including in the nervous tissue.

  To fix information, the human brain forms a connection between neurons, it can be short-term or long-term. The duration of the memory depends on the type of association. With the aging process, the metabolism of neurons is disturbed and they are unable to adequately create new connections. The ability to remember current events is lost - older people remember well the memories of their youth, but they cannot say what happened five minutes ago. With the progression of the disease, the connections already formed earlier begin to break down and patients lose information that they previously clearly remembered.

  Senile amnesia develops with vascular diseases brain, most often this occurs with atherosclerotic lesions. Past strokes and transient ischemic attacks cause not only memory impairment, but also lead to disorders of thinking, speech and attention.

  A separate group of factors is infectious diseases that affect the nervous system, poisoning with neurotropic substances, and various chronic diseases accompanied by the development of hypoxia - pathology of the respiratory and of cardio-vascular system. Oxygen is vital for all tissues, including the nervous one; its deficiency leads to acidification of the cellular environment and disruption of normal metabolism.

  Some chronic diseases also lead to impaired memory and attention, among them are the following:

  • brain tumors;
  • transferred infections;
  • diffuse toxic goiter;
  • B12 deficiency anemia;
  • multiple sclerosis;
  • Alzheimer's disease;
  • diabetes and others.

  Absolutely all aged people are at risk for amnesia, but not everyone suffers from this disease. It depends on the lifestyle and hereditary predisposition. With the passage of time and the aging of the body, the percentage of people with memory impairments is increasing, and given the aging of the nation, this problem is most acute, since it concerns the lives of not only patients, but also their loved ones.

  Treatment

  Therapy of cognitive disorders should be comprehensive and include medication and restorative measures. Getting rid of memory lapses completely is a very difficult task, and it is not possible to complete it. With severe failures, it is only possible to partially return the memory, and the recovery process itself takes long time. Treatment is aimed at stabilizing the condition and preventing the deepening of amnesia.

  Non-drug effects include the normalization of metabolism - a collective and broad concept, including diet, normalization of the daily routine, refusal bad habits, eating food rich in amino acids and B vitamins, etc.

  Patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease and lung diseases need to be constantly monitored and treated for underlying diseases, as they are triggers in cognitive impairment.

  The use of folk remedies

  Elderly people like to use natural herbal remedies for treatment. It must be remembered that the effect of them does not appear immediately, herbal therapy drags on for many months, or even years, but the result will certainly come from it, the main thing is patience.

  Treatment with folk remedies includes the use of drugs that have a general strengthening effect on the body and normalize metabolic processes in nervous tissue. A well-known group of herbal remedies - adaptogens, increase the body's defenses, give strength, improve memory, attention and normalize mood. Ginseng root, lemongrass, eleutherococcus, rowan fruit, zamanihi herb are plants used to treat cognitive impairment.

  You can restore memory using medicines from ginkgo biloba. They have gained wide popularity in the treatment of memory and thinking disorders, they are used both in folk and official medicine.

  Pharmacological preparations

  There are no drugs that would completely eliminate the symptoms, there are only groups of drugs that stop the progression of the disease:

  • Nootropics (piracetam, cinnarizine, Phezam) - are a nutrient substrate for the nerve cell, improve metabolic processes and improve the formation of associative bonds. Widely used to treat senile dementia, Alzheimer's disease and various types of amnesia.
  • Metabolic agents (Actovegin, Gliatilin, pentoxifylline) - nourish the nervous tissue and are used in patients with post-stroke conditions, after transient ischemic attacks, thus preventing cognitive disorders.
  • NMDA receptor blockers (memantine) - the most a new group, used for severe cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. The drugs have proven efficacy and significantly improve the quality of life of patients with senile amnesia.

  Prevention

  There is no specific prevention, there are only general recommendations on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Rejection of bad habits, observance proper nutrition, daily walks and physical education strengthen human health and make the body resistant to external influences.

  By observing these well-known rules, everyone can allow an active old age without chronic diseases and memory disorders. You need to think about your health even in your youth, only in this way the overall incidence rate will decrease and life expectancy will increase.

  By taking care of your health, treating existing chronic diseases, you can easily prevent the disease and keep the lightness of mind and memory until old age.

Amnesia in the elderly is characterized by partial or complete loss of memory for various reasons. In older people, amnesia is also called senile (senile) dementia, because along with memory loss, attention and mental function are impaired. Over time, memory lapses worsen and progress, cognitive processes decrease, so the quality of life of a sick person worsens.

Memory problems in the elderly initial stages happen on current events. Over time, they forget about what happened to them before, in young age. Last stages are characterized by complete loss of memory, patients do not remember their names, where they live, do not recognize loved ones.

Diagnostics

To detect amnesia at all stages of development, a study is carried out:

• EEG - electroencephalography;
• General and/or biochemical analysis blood;
• UZDG - doppler ultrasound head vessels;
• CT - computed tomography brain;
• DSM - duplex scanning of cerebral vessels.

short term amnesia

Minor memory lapses in old people are sometimes considered the norm or the mildest form of the disease, since the events of the current or last month are erased, but then they are restored. If the patient cannot remember the event of the past day after 1-2 days, becomes distracted and frightened, then it is already necessary to conduct an examination and undergo treatment.

In older people, memory loss for current events often occurs due to the following factors:

• a stroke, in which blood flow to the brain is interrupted. Which leads to the death of neurons and changes their functionality;
• a depressive state that develops a chemical imbalance in the gray matter of the brain of the head;
• psychic trauma, because in this case traumatic events are blocked;
• brain injury and neuronal damage;
• alcohol and drug abuse, as intoxication of the body and brain hypoxia occur, the nervous system does not receive enough B vitamins;
• sleep disturbance, since the functional activity of neurons is also impaired;
• thyroid diseases;
• infectious diseases: meningitis or neurosyphilis;
• uncontrolled and prolonged use of relaxants, antidepressants or tranquilizers.

Treatment of transient amnesia

If the memory does not return on its own, then complex treatment is prescribed to alleviate the patient's condition.

Namely:

• drug therapy to improve cerebral circulation, the functionality of neurons, the treatment of the underlying disease;
• memory tests in the elderly;
• intellectual games and special exercises to improve memory;
• a diet with the inclusion in the diet of fish with cereals, fresh and baked vegetables, fruits. Exclude red meat, fatty foods and alcohol;
• regular moderate physical activity to activate blood circulation and normalize the processes of transporting oxygen to neurons, to cells - nutrition and for lymphatic drainage.

progressive amnesia

Symptoms of progressive amnesia:

• concentration of attention decreases;
• speech is disturbed;
• the feeling of fatigue does not go away;
• impaired coordination of movements and orientation in space, which happens against the background of Alzheimer's disease;
• patients are dizzy;
• mood changes for the worse;
• no interest in what is happening around.

If the patient has pathologies of the cardiovascular system, then you need to constantly measure the pressure and adjust it with medications. With atherosclerosis, measures are taken to normalize the level of cholesterol in the blood. With varicose veins of the legs and the development of small blood clots, a microinfarction of the brain may occur, therefore, patients are prescribed drugs that reduce blood viscosity.

To restore the quality of life, drugs are prescribed that improve memory in the elderly and increase oxygen consumption and metabolic processes in neurons. Not only pharmacological drugs are prescribed, but also psychosocial therapy.

Medical treatment is carried out:

• nootropics and neuroprotectors: Gliatilin, Lucetam, Piracetam, Phenotropil, Cerebrolysin - means do not allow damage to neurons;
• memory enhancing drugs: Alzepil, Bilobil, Glycine, Memantine - they affect the process of memorization;
• vascular agents to improve the walls of cerebral vessels: Trental, Pentoxifylline - they improve blood circulation.

In the presence of hydrocyanic dementia, hypnosuggestive therapy is carried out to restore lost facts and events. Psychosocial therapy includes solving riddles, crosswords, puzzles, board games and counting backwards, and looking at photo albums of loved ones and friends.

Alcoholic amnesia

With binges, especially on an empty stomach, amnesia occurs suddenly in alcoholics, because the degrees of drinks disrupt the connections between brain cells. When ethanol enters the bloodstream, the intoxication of the body sharply increases and brain dysfunction occurs. With a small amount of alcohol drunk, memory lapses in older people do not occur.

To restore memory in an alcoholic, drugs containing B vitamins (injections or tablets) are prescribed. They restore the nervous system, normalize energy metabolism.

Patients with alcoholics are prescribed drugs that improve cerebral circulation and memory in old age, as well as improve the metabolism of brain tissues in combination with nootropics. The menu includes dishes from the liver, sprouted wheat grains, beans with nuts and other foods rich in vitamin B.

Daily routine, exercise and diet

It is important to remember that older people with impaired memory in special medical institutions will feel bad. Only a familiar and calm environment under the supervision of relatives can improve the situation.

For patients provide:

• comfortable sleep for 8-9 hours / day or more, daytime sleep for 1-1.5 hours;
• calmness, absence of quarrels between relatives and conversations in raised tones;
• intellectual games, conversations about the past, watching programs with a discussion of the process;
• daily regular walks for an hour once or twice a day;
• morning exercises with optimal loads (as recommended by a doctor).

Meals should not include fatty, fried and fast food dishes. The priority is first courses and cereals, pasta and stewed vegetables with dietary meat, poultry, fish, fresh vegetable salad dressed vegetable oil, lemon juice or cranberry sauce.

Useful lactic acid products, cheese, baked potatoes and apples, nuts and seeds, sea ​​kale and even mashed horseradish.

Folk remedies favorably affect memory:

• walnut infusion: leaves 950 g) are poured with boiling water (1 l) and allowed to brew for 20 minutes. After filtering, they drink 150 ml - 4 times / day 20 minutes before meals;
• a decoction of rowan bark: the material (200 g) is steamed with boiling water (90.5 l) and boiled for 2 hours on minimum heat. Filter and drink 25 drops before meals.

Stroke and memory loss

Memory impairment in old age also occurs with an acute failure of blood flow to the brain - with a stroke that clogs (with an ischemic form) or damages (with a hemorrhagic form) blood vessel. As a result, neurons die in a certain area of ​​the brain responsible for memory, because there is not enough nutrition and oxygen. Amnesia occurs 2-3 days after a stroke.

To restore memory, the doctor prescribes complex therapy taking into account the nature of brain damage, age and the presence of concomitant diseases.

Other diseases and concepts

There are also such names in medicine as senile insanity, vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies, senile dementia, senile sclerosis. Memory lapses, amnesia are also present here, but the treatment is carried out by different (other) methods.

In contact with

Memory impairment is a pathological condition characterized by the inability to fully remember and use the information received. According to statistics, about a quarter of the world's population suffers from various degrees of memory impairment. The most pronounced and most often this problem is faced by older people, they can experience both episodic memory impairment and permanent ones.

Causes of memory impairment

There are quite a lot of factors and reasons that affect the quality of assimilation of information, and they are not always associated with disorders caused by age-related changes. The main reasons include:

Memory impairment in the elderly

Complete or partial memory loss accompanies 50 to 75% of all elderly people. Most common cause the occurrence of such a problem is a deterioration in blood circulation in the vessels of the brain caused by age-related changes. In addition, in the process of structure, changes affect all structures of the body, including exchange functions in neurons, on which the ability to perceive information directly depends. Also, memory impairment in old age can be the cause of a serious pathology, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Symptoms in older people begin with forgetfulness. Further, there are problems with short-term memory, when a person forgets the events that have just happened to him. Similar states often lead to depression, fear and self-doubt.

In the normal aging process of the body, even in extreme old age, memory loss does not occur to such an extent that it could affect the normal rhythm. The memory function decreases very slowly and does not lead to its complete loss. But in cases where there are pathological abnormalities in the functioning of the brain, older people may suffer from such a problem. In this case, supportive treatment is required, otherwise the condition may develop into senile dementia, as a result of which the patient loses the ability to remember even the elementary data necessary in everyday life.

It is possible to slow down the process of memory deterioration, but this issue should be dealt with in advance, long before old age. The main prevention of dementia in old age is mental work and healthy lifestyle life.

Children's disorders

Not only the elderly, but also children can face the problem of memory impairment. This may be due to deviations, often mental, that arose even in the fetal period. An important role in congenital memory problems is affected by genetic diseases especially Down syndrome.

In addition to a birth defect, there may be acquired disorders. They are caused by:

Short term memory problems

Our memory consists of short-term and long-term. Short-term allows us to assimilate the information that we receive in this moment, this process lasts from a few seconds to a day. Short-term memory has a small amount, therefore, within a short period of time, the brain decides to move the information received to long-term storage or erase it as unnecessary.

For example, information about when you cross the road and look around, you see a silver car moving in your direction. This information is important exactly as long as you have not crossed the road to stop and wait for the car to pass, but after that there is no need for this episode, and the information is erased. Another situation is when you met a person and learned his name and remembered his general appearance. This information will remain in memory for more a long period, how much it will depend on whether you have to see this person again or not, but it can persist even with a one-time meeting for years.

Short-term memory is vulnerable and the first suffers from the development of pathological conditions that can affect it. With its violations, the learning ability of a person decreases, forgetfulness and the inability to concentrate on a particular object are observed. At the same time, a person can remember well what happened to him a year or even a decade ago, but cannot remember what he did or what he thought a couple of minutes ago.

Short-term memory lapses are often observed in schizophrenia, senile dementia and the use of drugs or alcohol. But there may be other reasons for this condition, in particular tumors in the brain structures, injuries, and even chronic fatigue syndrome.

Symptoms of memory impairment can develop either instantly, for example, after an injury, or occur gradually as a result of schizophrenia or age-related changes.

memory and schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia in their anamnesis have many disorders from the side of disorders of intellectual abilities. Organic lesions of brain structures are absent in schizophrenia, but despite this, dementia develops over the course of the disease, which is accompanied by loss of short-term memory.

In addition, people with schizophrenia have impaired associative memory and the ability to concentrate. It all depends on the form of schizophrenia, in many cases memory is preserved for a long time and its violations occur after years and even decades against the background of developed dementia. An interesting fact is that people with schizophrenia have, as it were, a “double memory”, they may not remember certain memories at all, but, despite this, they clearly remember other episodes from life.

memory and stroke

In the case of a stroke, when a clot clogs the blood vessels of the brain, many suffer
functions. Often, memory lapses and motor and speech disorders are distinguished from the consequences after such a state. After such a state, people may remain paralyzed, the right or left side body, there is a distortion of facial expressions, due to atrophy of nerve endings, and much more.

Regarding memory, in the first time after a stroke, there may be complete amnesia for all events that occurred before the onset of the disease. With extensive strokes, total amnesia can be observed, when patients cannot recognize even the people closest to them.

As a rule, despite the seriousness of the pathology, with proper rehabilitation, the patient's memory in most cases returns, almost completely.

Therapeutic actions

Memory loss or deterioration is always a secondary process caused by one or another pathological process. Therefore, in order to prescribe the appropriate treatment, it is necessary to initially identify the cause that led to such consequences and treat it directly. Further correction of memory occurs already against the background of the treatment of the underlying disease. Restoring memory functions requires:

• treatment of the primary disease;
• drug therapy to improve brain activity;
• balanced diet;
• rejection of bad habits;
• performance special exercises for the development of memory.

From drug treatment nootropic drugs are prescribed to improve thinking and brain metabolism. Piracetam is the most commonly used nootropic drug. Of the herbal remedies, bilobil is used, it indirectly affects the metabolism in the brain and, as a rule, is well tolerated.

The diet should be designed in such a way that it contains a sufficient amount of acids, B vitamins, and magnesium.

Note! With any pathological changes, only a doctor should prescribe treatment, uncontrolled intake of nootropic drugs can aggravate the situation.

If you want to keep a good memory for many years and not feel the discomfort associated with excessive forgetfulness even in late old age, it is important to deal with this issue from your youth. By following a healthy lifestyle, watching your diet, getting enough sleep, giving up bad habits and engaging in self-education, you can achieve significant results in improving not only memory, but also thinking, attention and intelligence.

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