Clinical manifestations of Alzheimer's disease Parkinson's Peak. Peak's disease: causes, clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment. Peak Disease - Causes

Peak's disease is a rarely detected, but severe, brain disease leading to a gradual atrophy of cells in the temporal and frontal lobes. Patients with Peak's disease are characterized by rapidly growing dementia, the age of patients is within 50 years, cases with early and late onset of the disease have been identified. Brain pathology is similar to all known Alzheimer's disease, although it has differences in some symptoms, an increase in the clinic, and, accordingly, in treatment.

Peak Disease

The disease was first described in 1892 by A. Peak, in the course of the research, significant distinctive criteria were identified with an ailment with similar symptoms - Alzheimer's disease.

The differences are justified by the characteristic picture of the changes taking place:

Atrophic changes, as a rule, are limited - only cells of the frontal and temporal lobes are affected.
Vascular pathologies are minor or completely absent.
No noticeable signs of inflammation, senile plaques in the vessels, or neurofibrils produced in Alzheimer's patients are detected.

Peak's disease is characterized by the death of neurons, which leads to thinning of the cortex in the brain. The ventricles of the brain increase in size, the normal line between the gray and white matter is erased.

In the case of an ailment, speech pathological changes and violations of the usual, previous illness, patient behavior come to the fore, in the last stages the patient has total dementia -.

Peak Dementia

Dementia is a progressive negative and irreversible change in the structures of the brain, leading to a steady decline in intelligence, memory, the loss of existing skills, the ability to learn, remember events, and orientation in space.

Pictured is a picture of a brain affected by dementia in Peak's disease

At the same time, consciousness remains clear for a long time from the onset of the disease, all the symptoms of the disease develop for about six months, although a sharp change in character and personality is sometimes observed.

The following factors that adversely affect the human body can trigger the development of dementia:

Prolonged, non-doctor-controlled administration of certain pharmaceuticals.
Chronic vitamin deficiency of vitamins B.
Metabolic progressive disorders due to internal ailments.
Infections

In a disease, it is customary to distinguish three stages of development gradually transforming into each other, the life expectancy of a sick person rarely exceeds 10 years.

Syphilis is a pathology of a venereal-allergic nature, which can disrupt the functioning of various organs and systems. If proper treatment is not available, after a certain time it may develop - with such a disease, the infection enters the human nervous system.

The loss of sensitivity of the skin or limbs, if it is repeated quite often and lasts for a long time, should necessarily be the reason for going to the doctor. It will help identify the causes of hypesthesia and prescribe its adequate treatment.

First stage of the disease

The character of a person changes towards selfish orientation, unmotivated actions arise, which the patient explains not by the possibility of not performing them.

Instinctive emancipation is the loss of previous moral principles. The patient can celebrate his physiological desires anywhere, regardless of the environment. Sexual promiscuity is noted.
Speech changes - repetition of identical words, standard expressions, jokes.
Decrease in self-criticism of your actions.
There may be episodes of psychoemotional changes - hallucinations, delusions of jealousy, inferiority, etc.
Slowing down when performing movements, less often hyperkinesis.

Second stage

In the second stage, all the symptoms continue to progress and pass into the focal form.

The following symptoms are observed:

Short or persistent amnesia.
Aphasia is a pathological disorder in speech activity. The ability to use words to express their thoughts partially or completely ceases, patients also do not grasp the meaning of the speech of others.
Apraxia - a violation of the previous ability to perform actions. Moreover, a violation may occur in one link of the entire chain, for example, at the request of eating candy - the patient unfolds the sweetness, throws the contents out and puts a candy wrapper in his mouth.
Agnosia - changes in visual, auditory perception, tactile sensations.
Akalkuliya - the inability to correctly perform oral and written operations with a mathematical account.

All the symptoms of the second stage increase imperceptibly, at the beginning they may appear sporadically, then constantly.

Third stage

The third stage of the disease is deep, irreversible dementia, patients need psychological help and constant examination of relatives.

Peak's disease and heredity

Accepted Peak's disease is attributed to degenerative negative changes that develop in the departments and cells of the brain. The disease is hereditary, so the presence of relatives by blood with dementia, progressing after 50 years, should make you pay more attention to your health.

Nimann peak disease in children

The similarity of the name of Peak's disease with another ailment - Nimann's Peak's disease of some people is misleading. The main difference in medical sources indicates the age of patients - Peak disease develops at a fairly mature age and a characteristic symptom complex of the revealed pathology is dementia.

Nimann Pick disease belongs to hereditary diseases by medicine, it is characterized by an obvious violation in lipid metabolism, which leads to the accumulation of lipids in the bone and brain, liver tissues, in the spleen and in the lungs.

Depending on the type of disease, the ailment can manifest itself in about three months of life or in the puberty period, and children are born without signs of pathology. Inheritance occurs in an autosomal recessive manner of development, that is, for the transmission of the disease it is necessary that both genes be mutated.

The photo schematically shows the symptoms in a child with Niman Pick disease:

The disease is caused by a deficiency of the sphingomyelase enzyme, which leads to disruption of the entire process of lipid breakdown. Not split lipids accumulate in monocytes and phagocytes, provoking their increase from the permissible norm by several times.

When diagnosing all the organs of a child, pathological growth of the liver, adrenal glands, spleen is revealed, their normal color is changed to yellow. A spotted pattern is recorded in the lung tissue.

It is customary to classify Nimann-Peak disease into types A, B, C, they differ in developmental time, symptoms and course, prognosis for later life.

Nimann Peak disease type A is the most common form of the disease, characteristic of children of the first year of life, the prognosis is unfavorable - sick children, with all the modern possibilities of medicine, rarely live up to 2 years. Children with mutated genes are born with an ordinary mass, in the first weeks they have no obvious problems in the body.
Type B develops after two years, involvement of the nervous system structures in the disease process is not detected. On the contrary, in some children, intellectual abilities and abilities are much higher than average.
It is considered the most favorable form of genetic ailment, since with an effective and correctly developed principle of treatment, patients lead a normal lifestyle.
Type C is a youthful form, develops by the age of two, the main difference is the addition of changes in the structures and departments of the central nervous system. Most patients die in adolescence.

Children with identified Nimann-Peak disease of type A and B rarely experience symptoms after developing symptoms for 18 months. With type C, developing with pathological processes in the central nervous system, signs of dementia may appear.

Causes of Peak's Disease

The unequivocal reason leading to the development of atrophy of cells and structures of the frontal and temporal lobes has not been reliably established.

Among the most likely provoking factors, there are:

The main risk factor is considered hereditary dependence. The disease is often detected among relatives having a consanguineous relationship.
Severe head injuries leading to the death of neurons.
Intoxications - chronic poisoning with salts of heavy metals, chemical compounds, alcohol. The likelihood of nerve cell death increases several times in those cases when toxins act on the body for a long time. Anesthesia can also be attributed to the negative effects of toxins, especially if it has been used several times.
Severe mental disorders suffered at any age.

Symptoms and manifestations

Examined patients with Peak's disease have characteristic symptoms that are conventionally divided into two groups in medicine - patients necessarily have problems with written notes, speech and difficulty in behavior.

Close people and relatives of the patient at the first stages of the onset of the disease note that his personality is noticeably and not for the better.

Characteristic features for such patients are:

With atrophy in the frontal regions, the mood is noticeably increased for no reason, carelessness in relation to household duties and work, inattention, distraction. A characteristic feature is sexual licentiousness.
With temporal localization of atrophic processes, patients, on the contrary, are doubtful, and delusions of inferiority and unnecessaryness arise.

All patients suffer from varying degrees of speech, stereotypical expressions, words may appear, the meaning of speech is simplified to a minimum, the grammatical structure of sentences is violated. Patients also do not understand the speech addressed to them, personal hygiene is not observed, sudden outbreaks of excitement are noted.

In the middle of the development of atrophy of the brain, obesity is characteristic, followed by cachexia. In the later stages, patients need constant supervision.
Peak's disease significantly changes a person’s personality.

A modest woman with a rich vocabulary, a culture of speech, accurate in clothes, can turn into a creature that does not take care of itself at all, does not have the tact, and cannot correctly and correctly connect the words in a sentence.

Differences between Peak Disease and Alzheimer's

Peak's disease and Alzheimer's disease have one characteristic sign - dementia. But between these ailments, there are a number of distinctive symptoms that help the doctor to differentiate these pathologies.

Age. Peak disease develops after 50 years, while Alzheimer's disease is rarely detected before 60.
Patients with Peak's disease already in the early stages are prone to vagrancy and resist caring for them. In Alzheimer's disease, these signs appear much later from the onset of pathology.
In the initial stages of Peak's disease, attention, orientation in the area, the bill does not suffer. In Alzheimer's disease, memory impairment is an important symptom.
Patients with Peak's disease are characterized by disinhibition, following their instincts, with Alzheimer's, a person’s personality does not change in the early stages.
An early sign of Peak's disease is the impoverishment of the vocabulary, the appearance of stereotypical expressions in speech. Alzheimer's patients are characterized by a slower onset of speech problems.
An early loss of reading and writing skills is characteristic of Alzheimer's patients. People with Peak's disease retain their ability to write and read for a long time.

The addiction to various drugs can not but disturb. For example, it has very severe manifestations and consequences.

Information about the signs and manifestations of cerebral aneurysms can be found.

If you like to sleep, then you will be interested to read about idiopathic hypersomnia.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis is made after examination and conversation with the patient, conducting instrumental examinations. The doctor needs to talk with close relatives of the patient, identifying all stages of personality change.

The following examinations are prescribed:

Electroencephalography - the detection of electrical impulse activity. With Peak's disease, abnormalities are noted.
Tomography is a layered examination of all parts of the brain.

Treatment

A specific and effective treatment for Peak's disease has not been developed. Pharmaceuticals are prescribed based on the symptoms and severity of the disease.

There are several groups of drugs prescribed for dementia.

Substitution treatment is carried out with MAO inhibitors, antidepressants.
Neuroprotectors stimulate the activity of brain cells, improve ongoing metabolic processes. This helps to slow down atrophic processes.
Anti-inflammatory therapy.
Drugs aimed at correcting identified mental disorders - sedatives, drugs that reduce aggressive manifestations.

For patients, psychological support from relatives is important. In the later stages they cannot be left alone, it is dangerous for society and for the patient himself.

Forecast

When identifying Peak's disease, the prognosis for life is poor, all treatment is aimed only at improving well-being and delaying the occurring atrophic changes.

After about five years, the disease leads to a complete moral decay of the personality, insanity sets in and the person becomes lost not only for society, but also for himself.

Telecast Live Healthy! Peak's Disease. How not to “lose” yourself:

Peak's disease is a rare, chronic and progressive central nervous system disease characterized by atrophy of the temporal and frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex with an increase in dementia. The disease begins at the age of 50-60, although there are later or earlier manifestations. Women tend to get sick more often than men.

A. Peak in 1892 described cases of senile dementia, aggravated by an atrophic process mainly in the temporal and frontal lobes. Similar studies were carried out by A. Alzheimer, X. Lipman, E. Altman. Statements that the cases of the disease described by A. Peak represent an independent form were first noted by H. Richter. The confirmation of this nosological independence of the disease was carried out by pathological studies that showed a number of morphological features of this particular pathology.

Morphological features include the following features: the limited nature of atrophic changes in the frontal and temporal lobes; slight degree or absence of vascular changes; loss of elements of the nervous tissue in the upper layers of the cortex goal. brain the absence of all signs of the inflammatory process, as well as senile plaques or Alzheimer's changes in neurofibrils; atrophic changes passing into the subcortical region; the frequent finding of spherical argentophilic intracellular formations, as well as swollen cells.

The atrophic process is unevenly distributed in some parts of the brain, starting in typical areas called wrinkling and atrophy centers.

Peak Disease Causes

The causes of Peak's disease are currently not established. At the moment, only factors have been identified that increase the risk of its development. The main risk factor is a hereditary predisposition. If blood relatives in old age had various types of dementia, then you need to be very careful and wary of your condition.

One of the causes of Peak's disease is intoxication. Long-term exposure to chemicals in the body increases the chance of developing the disease. Anesthesia is also attributed to the causes of Peak's disease, since it is very difficult to tolerate for the nervous system. Head injuries, past mental illnesses also act as a provoking factor in the disease.

Peak Disease Symptoms

Peak's disease at an early stage is characterized by deep personality changes and signs of weakening of all types of intellectual activity. Initial manifestations of the disease slightly affect the premises of the intellect: memorization, memory, attention, sensory knowledge. This disease has several variants of the course.

Peak's disease in the first embodiment has little to do with automated forms of intellectual activity. By increasing symptoms of the disease, the abilities of patients do not change in orientation in a normal or uncomplicated new environment. The disease affects differentiated as well as complex personality attitudes and relationships. There is a change in the nature of patients, in parallel, productivity decreases, as well as the flexibility of thinking and the ability to critically evaluate new, complex situations, the ability to comprehend, make consistent conclusions, generalizations or other mental operations is lost.

Peak's disease, unlike Alzheimer's disease, is marked by the development of dementia of the intellect. Intelligence in the disease is affected from above. Personality changes in the disease are noted by typical signs. During the course of the disease, increased sexual desire prevails, disinhibition with the release of drives, which provokes offenses. Patients have a developing disappearance of a sense of tact, distance, shame, as well as previous moral attitudes. Patients are characterized by a predominance of inadequate euphoria, impulsiveness and expansiveness, together with a decrease in criticism.

This picture of personality changes is characterized by a pseudo-paralytic symptom complex, which has gross violations in conceptual thinking, namely, the ability to generalize, to determine the difference and similarity is lost, and there is an inability to explain the proverbs. A feature of the clinic is the absence of a memory disorder and orientation.

Peak's disease in another version of the course is characterized by a predominance of lethargy, lethargy, spontaneity, inaction, increased indifference, as well as emotional hardening. In parallel with this, impoverishment of speech, motor functions, and thinking begins. Often there is a dependence on the characteristics of personality disorders and the localization of the initial atrophic process, affecting the convex frontal lobes. As a result, the patient develops lethargy, inactivity, disinhibition, carelessness, euphoria, pseudoparalytic syndrome. From the history of such patients it is known that their productivity decreases, negligence and negligence appear in the performance of their duties, they start things up, lack of initiative, lethargy, indifference or excitability, as well as senseless gaiety accompanied by foolishness and tactlessness, selfishness, callousness.

These behavioral characteristics give the impression that patients have a decrease in memory, they are forgetful, distracted. Active attention in patients is reduced and unstable. A directed study of memory reveals the relative safety of its reserves. Patients can remember simple facts that concern themselves, and they do not show interest in events that do not apply to them. The stock of previously acquired knowledge is also noted as intact, but interest in them is usually lost.

Many cases of Peak's disease are marked by apparent memory loss. In patients, for quite some time, a sense of the sequence of time and consciousness persists. Patients know what will happen in the near future and what happened recently. This ability to predict the future highlights patients from Alzheimer's patients. An increase in progredience is noted by noticeable manifestations of dementia, a decrease in intellectual working capacity and a level of intellectual activity, and a defeat of all types of memory. As a result, deep dementia develops, marked by impoverishment of mental activity, as well as activity. Behavior is characterized by frequent stereotypes that are monotonously repeated according to the pattern. This is more noticeable in speech with repeating phrases, words.

Peak Disease Diagnosis

A patient with a suspicion of this disease is examined by a psychiatrist. The doctor assesses the current state through conversation, a general superficial examination. A preliminary examination reveals the inadequacy of actions, as well as a violation of social behavior.

To assess the state of the brain, the following methods are recommended: CT (computed tomography), electroencephalography, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

Computed tomography makes it possible to obtain high-precision layered images of the brain, as well as to identify the degree of progression of the process and the most affected part of the brain.

Electroencephalography allows you to catch the minimum electrical impulses that occur in the brain. All data on the pulses are displayed on a sheet of paper as a set of curves. With Peak's disease, we have a thinned bark, which means that there are much fewer processes in it, which is shown by the electroencephalogram.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) has the same diagnostic significance as computed tomography.

It is important in the diagnosis to differentiate Peak disease from other diseases (Alzheimer's disease, brain cancer, Huntington's chorea, diffuse atherosclerosis).

Peak Disease Treatment

In treatment, cholinesterase inhibitors are used. These are drugs such as Amiridine, Rivastigmine (Exelon), Reminyl (Galantamine), Arisept, as well as Gliatilin. These drugs for Peak's disease normalize the condition of patients at an early stage of the disease.

There is a good effect from the use of NMDA blockers (Akatinolmemantin) for a long time (about 6 months), as well as drugs of nootropic action (Phenotropil, Aminalon, Nootropil) and Cerebrolysin. The relief of productive psychotic symptoms is carried out by mild antipsychotics - Teralen, Theraligen, Clopixol, Chlorprotixen.

Peak patients need ongoing psychological support. Patients are recommended to participate in special trainings that slow the progression of the disease. The outlook for the future is unfavorable. Six years after the onset of the disease, a complete moral and mental decomposition of the personality sets in, and cachexia sets in. Sick for society becomes completely lost. The patient needs compulsory constant care or placement in a specialized psychiatric hospital.

The disease was described by A. Peak at the end of the 19th century. It usually begins gradually at the age of 40-65 years. Especially often, its first manifestations occur in 55-60 years.

At the initial stage of Peak's disease, unlike Alzheimer's disease, emotional-volitional disorders predominate, rather than disorders of the yugelno-mnestic sphere. Aspontance is especially characteristic: indifference, passivity, lack of internal incentives for activity with a continuing ability to act due to external stimuli. Less commonly, a symptom complex is revealed that is similar to the picture of progressive paralysis in the form of a decrease in the moral and ethical level of a person, carelessness, euphoria, disinhibition of drives, an uncritical attitude to one's own behavior (pseudo-paralytic syndrome).

One of the differences between Peak disease and Alzheimer's is the predominance of increasing intellectual failure and the weakening of the ability to generalize and abstract, build adequate judgments and conclusions, establish causal relationships) over memory disorders. Pronounced memory impairment appears late, amnestic disorientation is absent. Significantly less often than with Alzheimer's disease, delusional-delusional symptoms and epileptiform seizures occur.

In Peak's disease, speech disorders are among the leading manifestations of total dementia, while the disorders of gnosis and praxis characteristic of Alzheimer's disease are much less pronounced.

Speech disorders, starting with a difficult understanding of someone else's speech, semantic and grammatical simplification, impoverishment of one's own speech, eventually turn into speech helplessness. Speech is saturated with perseverations, echolalia, gradually loses its phrasal character, and boils down to meaningless repetition of the same phrases and words (“standing symptom” typical of Peak’s disease). Mutism comes later.

Some patients develop insanity. Patients die as a result of secondary infections after 5-6 years from the onset of a sedative cerebro-atrophic process.

Alzheimer's disease is included in the Organic, including Symptomatic, Mental Disorders section, under the heading Dementia in Alzheimer's with Early Onset. In a separate diagnostic category, "Dementia in Alzheimer's disease, atypical or mixed type." Peak Disease is categorized in the same section under the name “Peak Dementia”.

Etiology, pathogenesis and pathological anatomy

In the etiology of Alzheimer's and Peak's diseases, genetic factors are given some importance. In most patients with presenile dementia, heredity is not psychopathologically burdened. However, familial cases of Alzheimer's and Peak's diseases are being identified. For parents, brothers and sisters of people with Alzheimer's and Peak’s diseases, the risk of presenile dementia is higher than in the general population.

With these forms of mental pathology, various abnormalities in the synthesis of proteins and their functions at the cellular level were found, disturbances in the interaction of neurotransmitter systems, a reduced concentration of acetylcholine, catecholamines and an increased content of certain trace elements in brain tissues were found. Hypothetically associated with these biochemical changes is cerebral atrophy, which is the anatomical basis of Alzheimer's and Peak's diseases.

Cerebral pathomorphological changes in early-onset Alzheimer's disease are similar to those in late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Their most significant feature is the selective rather than diffuse nature of the cerebro-atrophic process, which, with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, is predominantly localized in the temporal and parietal lobes. The selectivity of cerebral atrophy is combined with its greater severity.

As with senile dementia, a significant number of senile plaques are determined microscopically. It is for this disease that peculiar pathological changes in neurofibrils (Alzheimer's degeneration of neurofibrils) are especially characteristic.

In Peak's disease, as in the early version of Alzheimer's disease, brain atrophy is selective, but has a different localization. The atrophic process is preferably involved along with the temporal frontal rather than parietal drills.

Microscopic changes in the brain in Peak's disease differ significantly from the microscopic picture of Alzheimer's disease. Senile plaques and Alzheimer's neurofibrils, as a rule, are not detected. Atrophy and death of part of the cortical neurons and swelling of nerve cells due to special intracellular formations (Peak bodies), as well as lipid accumulation in brain parenchyma cells and gliocytes, are determined.

Diagnostics

Recognition of presenile dementia is based on the occurrence of progressive dementia of the total type in the preschool age. The earlier identification of intellectual-mnestic disorders and disorders of higher cortical activity typical of these diseases is facilitated by the use of experimental psychological techniques. Computed tomography, which detects brain atrophy, internal hydrocephalus, and expansion of the ventricles of the brain, is of diagnostic value. When distinguishing between Alzheimer's and Peak’s diseases, their clinical features given above and differences in the localization of the cerebral atrophic process, determined by CT (atrophy of mainly parietal and temporal regions in the early version of Alzheimer's and frontotemporal in Peak’s disease), are taken into account.

Prevalence

The incidence and morbidity of presenile dementia is not well understood. There is evidence that the risk of presenile dementia is 0.1%. Among all hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals, persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease, make up 0.3-0.5%. Peak's disease is 2-4 times less likely than Alzheimer's disease with early onset. These diseases are diagnosed much less frequently than senile dementia. Among people with Alzheimer's and Peak's diseases, there are significantly more women than men.

The early version of Alzheimer's disease in its classic form is relatively rare. The late variant and the mixed form of the vascular-atrophic process are much more common.

It should be noted that Peak's disease with a typical clinical picture is especially rare. Peak-like disorders with an abundance of stereotypy and “standing symptoms” are more often detected.

The prognosis of presenile dementia is extremely poor due to the fatal and rapid breakdown of mental activity and the onset of death in the next few years from the onset of the disease.

Treatment and prevention

The treatment of Alzheimer's and Peak's diseases is practically no different from the treatment of senile dementia. Treatment methods that can slow down or stop the dulling process for a long time have not yet been found. The treatment of concomitant somatic diseases and age-related ailments is carried out, delaying death in some cases. Psychotropic drugs in small doses are prescribed for psychosis, more severe behavioral disorders and sleep disorders. Systematic nursing is extremely important.

In recent years, in the early stages of presenile and senile dementia, special medications have been used (akatinol, memontin, belt), which temporarily improve mnestic-intellectual and emotional functions. However, later there is an acceleration of cerebral-atrophic processes.

The overall clinical picture of this mental illness. All about lobar sclerosis: causes of pathology, stages of its development and ways to stabilize the patient's condition.

The content of the article:

Peak's disease (limited pre-atrophy of the brain, lobar sclerosis) is an incurable disease in which the cerebral cortex is affected, which leads to dementia of a person and his death. From the moment the pathology progresses to its tragic ending, usually about six to ten years pass. Relatives and friends of the affected side should know all the features of this ailment in order to provide maximum care to a member of their family.

Description and mechanism of development of Peak's disease

Sound personality degradation usually occurs in adulthood (50-60 years). Under the influence of negative factors, the total destruction of thinking and perception of the world.

For the first time, this phenomenon at the end of the 19th century became interested in the German psychiatrist Arnold Peak, who described the general clinical picture of the disease. At an early stage in the study of lobar disorder, most doctors considered it a form of senile dementia (senile dementia). However, in the future, experts realized their error and voiced Peak's disease as a separate age-related illness.

The described deformation of thinking is quite rare, so psychiatrists cannot clearly predict its prevalence. However, studies in this area allow us to conclude that lobar sclerosis is diagnosed much less frequently than Alzheimer's disease.

Both voiced pathologies have similar symptoms, but still differ in some respects from each other. Their treatment also implies a slightly different approach to solving the problem, because atrophy with senile dementia has a large lesion area and is not localized exclusively in the frontal and temporal lobes. Another difference between Peak and Alzheimer's disease is the fact that with lobar sclerosis in rare cases, vessels suffer and foci of inflammation form. Neurofibrils and senile plaques are also absent in it.

The sounded pathology has three periods of progression of the death of neurons in humans. The stages of Peak's disease are usually characterized by doctors as follows:

First phase. Lack of motivation in actions is the main feature of human behavior in the initial form of pathological changes in consciousness. The once important moral principles for him completely lose their value with pronounced sexual licentiousness. The feeling of shame is so dulled that the patient can meet the natural needs of a patient even in a crowded place. At the same time, jokes and statements become stereotyped, and movements slow down.
Second phase. During this period, people have amnesia, and speech becomes more and more slurred. The injured party is no longer able to complete the proposed task. At the request to free the sausage from cellophane, she will throw out the meat product and begin to boil its wrapper.
Third phase. The final stage is characterized by complete dementia, when dementia in a person is already pronounced. He is not able to care for himself and can even be a danger to people around him, because sometimes he becomes the culprit of a fire or gas leak.

Causes of Peak Disease

The described ailment to this day is comprehensively studied by specialists. Psychiatry Peak’s disease is examined from the point of view of analysis of the consequences of some negative factors that increase the risk of pathology:

Hereditary predisposition. Statistics testify to the regularity that if signs of dementia in adulthood were already observed in the family, this is an alarming signal for the descendants of a sick person.
Body intoxication. With prolonged contact with substances hazardous to human health, nerve cells die. This is especially true of the negative effects on the body of heavy metals, poisons and alcohol.
TBI. Such an injury can accelerate the death of neurons in the brain and ultimately lead to irreversible consequences in the form of dementia.
Narcosis. Some shortsighted persons consider such a procedure a harmless drug intervention in the human body. However, anesthesia in especially severe cases can provoke serious damage to the nervous system.
. Sound affective disorder leads not only to lethargy and apathy in humans, but is a favorable background for the occurrence of limited preschool atrophy of the brain.

The main symptoms of Peak's disease

The fixation of progressive changes in consciousness is often hampered by the fact that this pathology at the first stage of development often proceeds unnoticed. Among the main symptoms of Peak's disease, experts distinguish the following:

Lack of critical perception of the world and its place in it. The affected side begins to behave very strangely, explaining their own tricks by the inability to complete a particular task. As the pathology progresses, dementia takes on a total character. With anosognosia, the patient flatly refuses to admit the presence of any consciousness disorder. It is for this reason that he rejects the treatment regimen proposed to him.
Misunderstanding someone else's speech. Not only does the patient cease to give detailed answers, he cannot analyze the essence of appeals to him. His statements are more and more reminiscent of the speech of the Ellochka-cannibal from "The Twelve Chairs" with elements of perseveration (repetition not in the subject of the same word or phrase). Another extreme of such patients is the tendency to answer any question with a large-scale story-template.
Untidiness. Even if a person in the past was neat, then damage to the temporal or frontal parts of the brain usually leads to the fact that once a neat person ceases to monitor personal hygiene and brings his appearance to an ugly state.
Lack of tact. Unceremoniousness becomes the main behavior of a patient with a similar diagnosis. His inappropriate questions sometimes amaze people, because before that their offender always picked up expressions in assessing the events.
. In Alzheimer's disease, deviant behavior is characteristic of people with an advanced form of pathology. If we are talking about the described disease, then even at the very beginning of the formation of areas of brain damage, a person tries to leave his home in an unknown direction.
Obesity. With the loss of muscle tone in patients with lobar sclerosis, rapid weight gain is observed. This is not a mandatory factor in Peak's disease, but still 70% of these people in the second stage of neuronal death die from obesity.

Attention! The aforementioned disease changes the personality so much that once a cultured person with a large vocabulary in a short period of time is able to turn into an inadequate person who is not able to connect two words.

Diagnosis of Peak's Disease

This atrophy of the brain can be detected only after a comprehensive examination of the patient. Typically, the diagnosis of Peak disease is carried out in stages (in the second stage of its progression) according to the following scheme:

Conversation with a Patient. To do this, it is best to organize the communication of a degrading person not only with a psychiatrist, but also with a neuropathologist. The voiced experts, based on mutual conclusions, will be able to most accurately diagnose the affected side.
Communication with relatives of the patient. This stage of the examination is very important for the further planning of palliative care for a person with preschool atrophy of the brain. People who daily observe changes in the behavior of their relative are able to help the specialist recreate the full picture of the existing personality deformation of their family member.
Electroencephalography. The activity of such pulses cannot be analyzed without EEG. It is usually prescribed for the detection of epilepsy, but it clearly shows significant deviations from the norm in Peak's disease.
Tomography. Thanks to this diagnostic method, it is possible to determine the affected areas of the brain and then calculate how intensively the progression of the identified pathology occurs.

Correction of human behavior with Peak's disease

It should immediately be voiced the fact that such a dangerous ailment literally after 5-6 years leads to the fact that the once adequate person simply turns into a “vegetable”. There is no cure for Peak's disease as such, but it is realistic to provide supportive therapy and decent care for the injured party by people close to him.

Psychological assistance to patients with lobar sclerosis

Support of this kind gives tangible results when it comes to the first and second stages of the development of the disease. In this case, the following measures will help to correct the distorted consciousness of the patient:

Cognitive training. Participation in them allows you to activate spatial orientation, which is so necessary with voiced atrophy of the brain. During such sessions, specialists suggest that their patients exercise in awareness of certain processes, work with the proposed information and try their hand in group interaction.
Touch room. Such an oasis of stress and relaxation relieves the patient to completely relax and at least partially restore the broken harmony with the outside world. After personal communication with the patient, the specialist equips the sensor room with the necessary equipment in the form of special light panels, frameless furniture, audiovisual special effects, etc.
Art therapy. With many pathologies that are associated with serious disorders of the central nervous system, the use of this technique helps. Even against the background of progressive dementia, a person who, prior to his illness, loved to draw, can continue to subconsciously try to pick up a pencil or brush. Under the guidance of an experienced specialist, it is realistic to recreate some figurative associations in a person who slowly but surely begins to degrade.
Presence Simulation (TSP). Sound therapy implies an improvement in the quality of life of those people who have already been diagnosed with established dementia. This practice involves showing a family album or videos to people who have practically lost their own “I”.

Medication for Peak's disease

In case of lobar sclerosis, the prescribed drugs are able to stop the main symptoms of the disease, but they cannot cure it. Usually in this case, the patient is prescribed the following course of maintenance therapy:

Nootropic drugs (neuroprotectors). Phenylpiracetam and Piracetam are excellent psychostimulants with the obvious effect of the resumption of certain human vital functions. Memantine is also quite often prescribed for dementia, because it is able to slightly improve the weakening memory of the patient.
Antipsychotics. If the affected area includes the basal cerebral cortex and right-hemispheric atrophy, Chlorprotixen and Alimemazine are prescribed to relieve excessive fussiness and aggressiveness.
Antidepressants. With left-sided atrophy, the patient often has bouts of spleen and apathy. To smooth out the voiced symptoms, it is necessary to take Paroxetine and Amitriptyline.
Plant-based preparations. In the absence of an allergic reaction to the main components of such medications, Novo-Passit (blocking headaches and relieving anxiety) and Persen (sedative property) can be given to the affected side.

What is Peak's disease - look at the video:

After reviewing the materials in this article, one should take into account the fact that a person with a similar diagnosis is not at all guilty of his inappropriate behavior. Remember the short life expectancy of such people and provide decent care in compliance with all the recommendations of specialists.

Peak's disease is an irreversible pathological process that leads to complete atrophy of the cerebral cortex, most often in the frontal and temporal lobes. This ultimately causes dementia. The disease is usually diagnosed after the age of 50, however, cases of damage to people of a younger or older age are also possible. Treatment, in most cases, is palliative in nature and is aimed at improving the patient's quality of life.

Etiology

Clinicians identify the following etiological factors for the development of this disease:

genetic predisposition;
head injuries;
alcohol abuse or drug use;
uncontrolled medication, without apparent need;
lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the body.

In addition, it should be noted that the risk of developing Peak's disease is higher in those who already have a family history of such diseases or have suffered chronic infectious ailments with brain damage.

Classification

There are three stages of the development of Peak's disease, each of which is characterized by its clinical picture and prognosis. It should be noted that the development of the disease at the last stage is already an irreversible pathological process and often provokes the development of concomitant somatic diseases.

There are such stages of the development of the disease:

first or initial - negative changes in human behavior are observed. Most often, this is a selfish orientation, irritation, aggression towards others;
the second is the progression of the clinical picture of the first stage, the intellectual abilities of a person are worsened, there is no logical thinking, the patient cannot cope with basic hygienic procedures;
deep dementia, a person needs constant care.

At the last stage of the development of the disease, drug therapy no longer makes sense. In this case, the basis for improving the quality of life of the patient is nursing care.

Symptomatology

It should be noted that the clinical picture in Peak's disease for a rather long time does not have pronounced symptoms. The patient may occasionally experience memory impairment, distraction, which is attributed to natural physiological changes with age. As the development of the pathological process worsens, the clinical picture will be more intense.

For the first stage of the development of the disease, the manifestation of such symptoms is characteristic:

emancipation in behavior, signs of egoism;
decreased self-criticism of one’s behavior;
sexual promiscuity;
episodes of sharp psycho-emotional changes, for no apparent reason;
speech impairment - the patient can constantly repeat the same words or phrases;
slight memory impairment.

At the second stage of the development of the disease, the clinical picture of the first stage is aggravated and supplemented by the following symptoms:

amnesia of a short nature or permanent;
speech impairment - the patient partially or completely loses the ability to express his thoughts in words, does not understand the meaning of what was said to him;
violation of the previous ability to perform logical actions;
deterioration of visual, auditory and tactile perception.

At the third stage of the development of Peak's disease, the symptoms are only exacerbated, and all the signs of deep dementia are noted. In this condition, the patient is no longer able to answer for his actions, can’t cope with basic hygiene procedures on his own, and cannot service himself. There is also no long-term memory - a person at times or constantly does not recognize loved ones.

This condition of a person requires full and constant care for him.

To ignore or self-medicate, in this case, is strongly discouraged. You also need to understand that the psycho-emotional state of a person with this disease can be dangerous both for himself and for others, therefore, constant supervision is required in compliance with the rules of the nursing process.

Diagnostics

In the presence of the above clinical picture, you should contact a psychiatrist and a neurologist.

Diagnosis for suspected Peak disease is as follows:

on the basis of a physical examination of the patient and a personal conversation, the doctor evaluates the psycho-emotional state of the patient;
CT and MRI - to assess the state of the brain;
electroencephalography.

Laboratory tests, in this case, do not represent any diagnostic value. In some cases, a biochemical blood test may be needed.

It should be noted that this disease must be distinguished from the following:

mental disorders with a diffuse type.

Based on the results of the examination, the doctor can determine the degree of development of the pathological process and choose the most optimal tactics of maintenance therapy.

Treatment

Unfortunately, at the moment, no effective drug has been found to eliminate this disease. In this case, all medical measures are aimed at improving the quality of life of the patient.

Drug therapy may include taking the following medications:

hypnotic;
antidepressants;
antipsychotics;
nootropics;
neuroprotectors.

Also held sessions of psychotherapy, cognitive training, art therapy, sensory room, etc.

In addition, such general recommendations for patient care should be taken into account:

constant psychological support, so treatment is best done at home, in a familiar and comfortable environment;
you need to monitor the patient’s nutrition - it should be easy, but at the same time high-calorie, contain all the necessary vitamins;
daily, especially before bedtime, you need to carry out walks in the fresh air;
at night, the patient should be given a sleeping pill prescribed by the doctor or sedative.

It should be understood that all medical recommendations are aimed exclusively at maintaining the patient's life. It is impossible to completely eliminate the ailment.

Forecast

With Peak's disease, the prognosis is poor. The average life expectancy for this pathology is 8-10 years. In the last stages, a complete disorder of a person as a person occurs, and insanity develops. Such patients need round-the-clock care, therefore it is better to carry out treatment in a specialized clinic, where there is a place to be qualified medical personnel.