Overview

Cognitive impairment is decline f cognitive functions comparing with pre-existing level (individual norm). Cognition (cognitive functions) is the set of all mental abilities and processes related to knowledge: attention, memory and working memory, judgment and evaluation, reasoning and "computation", problem solving and decision making, comprehension and production of language, etc.

There are mild, moderate and severe types of cognitive deficit. They are polyethiological conditions; numerous nosological forms can lead to cognitive impairments, including:

· Neurodegenerative diseases

1. Alzheimer disease(AD)

2. Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)

3. Parkinson's disease (PD)

4. Huntington's disease (HD) etc.

· Vascular diseases

1. Localized cerebral infarction

2. Multiinfarct condition

3. Chronic cerebral Ischemia

4. Hemorrhagic impairements of the brain etc.

· Combined (neurodegenerative-vascular) diseases

· Dismetabolic encephalopathy and intoxications

· Neuroinfections and intoxications

1. HIV-associated encephalopathy

2. Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD)

3. Meningoencephalitis

4. Multiple sclerosis (MS), also known as disseminated sclerosis

· Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

· Brain tumor

· Liquor dynamic impairments

1. Hydrocephalus

In cases of chronic vascular and degenerative disorders cognitive impairments are irreversible, but in case of systemic metabolic disbalance prognosis can be more optimistic. Almost 5% of impairments on the stage of dementia (and even bigger percentage on the stages of mild ad moderate cognitive disfunctions are reversible.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is an acquired disorder of cognitive and behavioral impairment that markedly interferes with social and occupational functioning. It is an incurable disease with a long and progressive course. In AD, plaques develop in the hippocampus, a structure deep in the brain that helps to encode memories, and in other areas of the cerebral cortex that are used in thinking and making decisions. Whether plaques themselves cause AD or whether they are a by-product of the AD process is still unknown. See the image below.

Coronal T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in a patient with moderate Alzheimer disease. Brain image reveals hippocampal atrophy, especially on the right side.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-26