Chronic cerebral ischemia

Chronic cerebral ischemia is a variant of cerebral vascular pathology, which is characterized by a slowly progressing diffuse violation of the blood supply to the brain with increasing defects in its functioning.

Causes of Chronic Brain Ischemia

The development of this pathology contributes to a number of factors:

• elderly age;
• hereditary predisposition;
• atherosclerosis;
• hypertonic disease;
• diabetes;
• bad habits;
• sedentary lifestyle;
• inadequate nutrition, contributing to increased blood cholesterol levels;
• obesity, etc.

The most common cause of ischemia is atherosclerosis, i.e. fat deposits on the inner wall of the vessels of the brain, which narrows their lumen. The second most common cause is occlusion of the lumen artery thrombus, which can form on the fatty atherosclerotic plaque of the blood vessel.

Chronic cerebral ischemia - degrees and symptoms

There are three degrees of clinical manifestations of chronic cerebral ischemia.

Chronic ischemia of the brain 1 degree

For this stage of the disease, the following main symptoms are characteristic:

• headache;
• sensation of heaviness and noise in the head;
• dizziness;
• high fatigue;
• general weakness;
• sudden changes in emotional mood;
• decreased attention and memory for current events;
• sleep disorders .

Chronic ischemia of the brain 2 degrees

Further progression of the disease in the second stage is manifested by distinct neurological syndromes. The main symptoms are:

• increased dizziness;
• imbalance in walking;
• a significant decrease in memory, including professional;
• a significant violation of attention;
• slowing of mental processes (bradyphrenia);
• limited ability to plan and control;
• violation of social adaptation;
• depression ;
• emotional and personality disorders.

At the same time, the possibility of self-service at this stage is preserved.

Chronic ischemia of the brain 3 degrees

For the third, last, stage of the disease, except for manifestations of 1 and 2 degrees, the following symptoms are characteristic:

• severe memory impairment (up to elementary household skills);
• weakness in the extremities and violation of their motor functions;
• urinary incontinence;
• speech impairment;
• disintegration of personality;
• loss of ability to self-service;
• the need for constant third-party assistance.

As a rule, this degree of disease occurs when there is no treatment for chronic cerebral ischemia.

Treatment of chronic cerebral ischemia

Treatment of this pathology includes the following main activities:

1. Normalization of blood pressure, prevention of stroke and ischemic attacks. For this, vasodilator and anticoagulant medications are used.
2. Restoration of normal cerebral blood flow, improvement of metabolic processes, memory consolidation, clarity of consciousness and motor functions. To this end, widely used nootropics - drugs that affect the biochemical processes in the brain. The main representative of this group of drugs is piracetam.
3. Restoration of behavioral and physiological functions. For this purpose, massage, physiotherapy, electrophoresis, restorative therapy are prescribed.

Measures to prevent brain ischemia:

• proper nutrition with restriction of animal fats;
• regular physical activity;
• rejection of bad habits;
• maintenance of a normal level of arterial pressure.