How does the disease of toxic brain encephalopathy occur during alcoholism and treatment?

1 When the brain is defenseless against the poison

The term "encephalopathy" means a wide range of non-inflammatory brain diseases( encephalitis refers to inflammatory diseases).It comes from the Greek roots "encephalos" - "brain" and "pathos" - "suffering, disease."Like any disease, encephalopathy is congenital and acquired, acute and chronic.

Organic brain tissue damage occurs for many reasons: poisoning, trauma, lack of vitamin B1 and other forms of hypovitaminosis, from infections( including parasitic infections), due to vascular problems of cerebral circulation. Ethyl alcohol is a poison that causes poisoning. Toxic encephalopathy in alcoholism, if I may say so, is a man-made disease that a man creates himself, invigorating and amusing himself.

From the long, drunken reception of strong alcoholic beverages the whole body suffers, in whole and in parts. Violated metabolic processes and a deficiency of vitamin B1, which, in turn, causes damage to the midbrain and the hypothalamus. The phenomenon was described in the 19th century in the works of the German physiologist Karl Wernicke and the French scientist A. Gaye. The general name for such brain damage is called the Gaye-Wernick syndrome. Alcohol encephalopathy is one of the manifestations of this syndrome.

2 From chronic to acute and vice versa

Encephalopathy of the brain in acute form manifests itself after drinking bouts. She has the following symptoms:

• dimness of consciousness;
• neurological disorders;
• fever with delirium( delirium);
• incoherent speech;
• loss of orientation in the environment and self;
• strong hallucinations.

Acute form is very dangerous for the patient and the people around him. Losing the mind, a person does not know what he does, does not control his actions. A number of offenses against domestic fatalities occur in a state of acute encephalopathy.

Chronic forms develop gradually, sometimes imperceptibly. They are characterized by the following symptoms:

• memory attenuation down to total loss;
• decreased skin and tactile sensitivity;
• loss of orientation in time and space;
• multiple nerve damage( polyneuritis).

The initiated chronic encephalopathy leads to severe disorders, such as:

1. Alcoholic pseudo-paralysis is most often in men after long-term use of low-quality beverages and alcohol surrogates. It manifests itself in intellectual degradation, megalomania, delirium, tremor of extremities, lethargy and indifference to the world around us.
2. Korsakov's psychosis( amnesia Korsakova, Korsakov's syndrome, described in 1887 by Russian psychiatrist SS Korsakov) - they are affected mainly by alcoholics. It manifests itself as a memory disorder, false memories and unrestrained fantasies, disorientation, inadequate assessment of what is happening. Poorly treatable, leads to dementia and death of the patient.

Treatment of chronic forms is complicated by neglect of the disease, deep injuries of the internal organs and disorder of the patient's psyche. Often the chronic form is the result and continuation of acute encephalopathy.

3 How to fight for a person

No matter how hard the condition is suffering from alcoholic toxic encephalopathy, but the struggle for human health should not be interrupted. Modern medicine has accumulated a wealth of experience in medical practice and has a wide range of pharmacology tools.

As soon as it was possible to stop drinking alcohol and take alcohol intoxication, depending on which symptoms are most acute, the patient undergoes complex therapy in a hospital under the supervision of doctors. It usually involves taking medications:

• normalizing metabolic processes in the body;
• improving cerebral circulation;
• caffeine-containing, stimulating the central nervous system;
• antihistamine group against allergic manifestations.

In addition, they carry out vitamin therapy, antiepileptic prophylaxis and appoint nootropics - stimulants of mental activity.

The success of treatment largely depends on the degree of damage to the internal organs and the general desire of the patient to embark on the path of recovery.

Alcoholism is a disease. Any disease is better to prevent than treat. The first signs of encephalopathy should be a signal for both the patient himself and his surroundings. The realization that a person is sick is the first barrier to the disease and a motivating motive for the beginning of treatment.