Symptoms and Treatment of Spinocerebellar Degeneration

Spinocerebellar degeneration implies a combined concept of a whole complex of diseases, which are based on disorders of the structures of the spinal cord, trunk and cerebellum.

Symptoms of Spinocerebellar Degeneration

The main unifying feature of this pathology is hereditary origin and the growing clinical picture of ataxia.

The defeat of a number of structures of the central nervous system has a progressive nature, that is, a tendency to deteriorate over time. In this case, the onset of the disease is rarely sudden, the primary symptoms are some awkwardness when walking and instability during running. Followed by violations of coordination and tremor in the limbs. The handwriting of such a patient becomes characteristic - uneven, with very large letters.

After a while, a person begins to change his voice, it becomes difficult to understand because of indistinctness and slurred speech. Oculomotor disorders develop, the vision decreases or disappears completely.

With the further development of the pathological condition, the function of swallowing, digestion of food is disrupted, urination changes, paralysis in the legs and hands develops. At the examination at this stage, the prevalence of pathological reflexes over ordinary reflexes becomes noticeable. Sometimes on examination you can see subcutaneous flutter - these small muscle fibers undergo convulsive twitchings.

The intellectual sphere suffers as well - dementia develops, the patient degrades as a person. It is not uncommon for such a disease to have cardiomyopathy.

A sharp decrease in the body's immune forces leads to the development of a variety of infectious processes with spinocerebellar degeneration, which, as a rule, is the main cause of death of the patient.

Species

Paradoxically, but despite the fact that diseases of this kind are of hereditary origin, they begin to manifest themselves at a rather late age - after 20 years. More often such deviations are ascertained at persons from 20 and till 60 years. Although a number of diseases can be detected even at the very beginning of life.

At the moment, seven varieties of spinocerebellar degenerations are openly described and described. The difference between each of them is the severity of certain manifestations, the speed with which their process occurs, the age of the patient, when the disease most often debuts. Distinctions may be the excretion or accumulation of certain substances.

Most often, clinicians face such a variety of degenerative brain changes as Friedrich's ataxia. The disease starts at the age of 2 to 15 years. At the basis of the mechanism of development of pathology is the disruption of the production of a specific protein body, due to the mutation of the gene responsible for its production. This leads to damage to the nervous structures and tissues by free radicals and iron, which accumulates the body in excess.

The condition of the patient worsens especially when( which happens with such a diagnosis quite often) diabetes develops.

How is the disease determined?

When diagnosing, the probability of those pathological conditions that, according to clinical signs, may resemble spinocerebellar degeneration - an intoxication syndrome or a cancerous tumor - should be excluded. For this, the doctor recommends an MRI or CT scan of the brain, which may show signs of atrophic changes in the cerebellum and other structures.

If necessary, the final confirmation of this type of disease occurs with the help of modern DNA research.

Support for spinal carbellar degeneration

Currently, there is no modern medicine to cure this disease. With the use of nootropics and vitamins, it is possible to somewhat ease the patient's condition.

This group of drugs, like neuropeptides, can somewhat slow down the process of atrophic and degenerative processes in the brain, but so far they have passed the approbation stage.

A set of exercise exercises with the use of special exercise equipment, which with a positive attitude of the patient give good results. They should be started under the supervision of a specialist, and then the result can be fixed in the home.

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