Medical brain notes 7

  Dementia : In layman’s words dementia means loss of memory. Actually in dementia a patient’s memory, thinking ability, communication skills (to understand language and make others understand) and behavior are affected. Patient’s speech, behavior and characteristics as an individual changes considerably. Since intelligence is affected many questions arise.   Causes of dementia : There can be many causes of dementia. In about 80% of the patients the cause is Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia. In addition to that, Lewybodies disease, CreutzfeldtJakob disease, Huntington’s disease, Sub cortical Leucoencephalopathy, A.L.S etc also have symptoms of dementia. Amongst the other causes of dementia are diseases of thyroid, parathyroid, diabetes, effect of toxic chemicals, and heavy metals etc. Thus there are many causes of dementia.

  Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Dementia : In the initial stage of the disease the following symptoms are seen. ·             Difficulty in speech/language (To understand and to speak meaningfully). ·             Loss of memory (difficulty in remembering recent events). Many a times the past memory remains intact; till late. ·             The decision making power reduces. ·             The orientation of time and places gets affected Depression, loss of interest in life, excessive anger. As the disease progresses the patient finds difficulty in carrying out routine day-to-day activities.   ·             The patient starts forgetting his day-to-day incidents and the names of his near and dear ones.   · ...

  Multi-infarct Dementia : When a decrease in the supply of blood to various small portions of the brain damages the ce;;s in those areas then Multi-infarct Dementia results. A rise in the blood pressure damages small capillaries and small clots are formed in these capillaries, which results in lowering of the blood supply in certain parts of the brain. This disease can start abruptly or may slowly progress. Initially, memory loss (especially the memories of the recent events) takes place. The symptoms tend to fluctuate. Insight into the disease remains relatively preserved. Individual characteristics of the patient still remain more or less intact. But as the disease progresses, the condition of the patient deteriorates substantially. This can also be accompanied by paralysis, depending upon the location of the infarcts. A perfect and confirmed diagnosis can be made on the basis of symptoms as well as CTScan, MRI and MRAngio. Therefore, the diagnosis is much easier compared to Alz...

  Prevention of Dementia and Improving Brain Power : It is believed that as the age progresses the cells in the brain degenerate, gradually resulting in loss of memory as well as mind power. But this is not completely true. Recent research has shown that if the right kind of environment is provided there can be development of the new nerve fibres in the brain of older or aging people. Memory can be kept relatively intact till the end. Proper blood circulation is necessary for the proper functioning of the brain. The day should start with some jogging, which speeds up the circulation of the blood in the body. This will result in more supply of blood and oxygen to the brain, which will keep the nervous system alert. One must also be particular about the kind of breakfastto be taken after exercise. One should develop a taste for food rich in carbohydrates (glucose based) rather than fatty foods. After every one to one and half-hours of work, it is advisable to take a break for some mi...

  Tips to improve working of the brain : i.                 Control stress because it produces damaging chemicals in nervous system.   ii.                 Yoga and meditation increase the mental powers and so it should be practiced.   iii.                 Sufficient sleep is very important for development of memory and working of the brain.   iv.                 Tobacco, alcohol and drugs are injurious to the brain. Thus keep away.   v.                 Make friends and be socially active.   vi.                 Devel...

  Few tips for students to improve memory : ·             While you settle down to study, keep your textbooks, notebooks, pen etc. with you, so that you do not have to get up frequently to fetch these things. ·             Select a fixed place for reading. See to it that the reading room is adequately ventilated and well lighted. Avoid the disturbances of T.V., tape-recorder or telephones in the room. ·             Always sit and read. Don’t keep lying on the bed while reading. ·             Keep a time-table for the entire syllabus and paste it in front of your reading table and follow it. Inform your parents or friends that you would not like to be disturbed. ·             Before and after your reading session...

  Ribosomal Memory : As per the principles of Ribosomal memory following suggestions for retaining whatever is read are extremely useful. ·             Read each paragraph carefully and try to remember each point thereof. Similarly to read the next one and after reading for a while, to keep the book aside and try to remember everything.To write all important points, or discuss with the colleagues and then review if any points are left out. ·             While starting the next chapter to summarize shortly previous chapter.   ·             To repeat very briefly the same topic after 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days; help a lot to remember the topic permanently. ·             One can use pnemonics or graphics or melodies to remember certain unusual things or long lis...