The Treatment of Modern Western - Biblio.nhat-nam.ru

3ALZHEIMER’S DISEASEAlzheimer’s disease is a progressive, inexorable loss of cognitivefunction of unknown etiology associated with an excessivenumber of senile plaques in the cerebral cortex and subcorticalgray matter which also contains beta-amyloid andneurofibrillary tangles consisting of tau protein.Approximately four million Americans are currently affectedwith this disease. The most common form of this diseasemostly affects people over 60 years of age and its incidenceincreases with age. However, 2-7% of cases are earlier inonset. These early-onset cases are usually due to an inheritedgenetic mutation. A family history of Alzheimer’s is presentin 15-20% of all cases. The disease is twice as common inwomen as in men. It accounts for more than 65% of dementiasin the elderly although vascular dementia andAlzheimer’s disease coexist in approximately 15% of cases.The clinical symptoms are divided into four stages of the progressionof this disease. Its early stage is characterized by loss ofrecent memory, inability to learn and retain new information,language problems (especially word-finding), mood swings,and personality changes. Patients may have progressive difficultyperforming daily activities and may become irritable andhostile due to this loss of control and memory. In the intermediatestage, patients become unable to learn and recallinformation. Memory of remote events is affected, althoughnot totally lost, and patients may require assistance bathing,eating, dressing, and/or using the toilet. Behavioral disorganizationis often characterized by wandering, agitation, hostility,uncooperativeness, or physical aggression. By this time,patients have lost all sense of time and place. Although theyremain ambulatory, intermediate stage patients are at risk forfalls or accidents due to confusion. In the severe stage, patientsare unable to walk or perform any daily activity, and they areusually totally incontinent. Recent and remote memory iscompletely lost, and patients may even be unable to swallowand eat. Eventually, patients become mute. The end stage ofAlzheimer’s disease is coma and death, usually from infectionmasked by absence of febrile and leukocytic responses.The Western medical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is usuallybased on the patient’s history, physical examination, laboratorytests, and the exclusion of other causes of dementia.Basic tests include the Folstein Mini-mental StatusExamination, CBC, electrolyte panel, Sequential MultipleAnalyzer tests, thyroid function tests, folate and vitamin B 12levels, VDRL test, and urinanalysis. ECG and X-ray may beuseful in some patients. In terms of Western medical treatment,some drugs that enhance cholinergic neurotransmission,such as donepezil, can temporarily improve memoryduring the early stages. Unfortunately, some of the drugsused to treat Alzheimer’s disease, such as antipsychotics, cancause Parkinsonian movement disorder, while tricyclic antidepressantswith anticholinergic side effects can cause constipation,urinary retention, glaucoma, and seizures. In addition,nonprescription antihistamines may worsen confusion.Antioxidants, such as vitamin E, estrogen therapy, andNSAIDs are currently under study. At this time, the cognitivedecline of Alzheimer’s disease is inevitable, but the rateof progression is unpredictable, with survival ranging from2-20 years and an average of seven years.CHINESE DISEASE CATEGORIZATION: Alzheimer’s diseaseis categorized as lao nian xing chi dai, literally, senile feeble-mindednessbut commonly translated as senile dementia,wen chi, civil madness, and wu chi, martial mania, in Chinesemedicine. In the latter case, there is marked impetuosity, irritability,red face and eyes, restlessness, and agitated movement.DISEASE CAUSES: Former heaven natural endowmentinsufficiency, aging, internal damage by the seven affects,and unregulated eating and drinkingDISEASE MECHANISMS: Due to former heaven naturalendowment insufficiency and aging, there may be insufficientyin blood to transform essence and fill the sea of marrow oryang qi debility with loss of spiritual brightness. In either case,there may be decreased mental clarity and faulty memory.