Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis is a rare but serious chronic disease that resembles multiple sclerosis in its manifestations. The right treatment can help you effectively keep your symptoms under control.

In the Yusupov hospital, the treatment of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis is carried out according to modern standards, with the use of glucocorticoids, symptomatic drugs. Patients are led by highly qualified doctors who have extensive experience in the treatment of this pathology.

In parallel with drug therapy, we apply the whole range of necessary rehabilitation measures. They help restore the impaired functions of the nervous system, return the patient to his usual life, and ensure his psycho-emotional well-being.

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Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (AREM, another name is acute disseminated disseminated encephalomyelitis, ADEM) is a rare disease that resembles an exacerbation of multiple sclerosis. These two diseases are similar: the same disorders occur in the nervous tissue, which manifest themselves in approximately the same symptoms.

What happens in the body during WECM?

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, like, is a demyelinating disease.

The long branches of nerve cells are like wires that carry electric current. Like every wire in your apartment, they have special "insulation". It's called the myelin sheath. But the myelin sheath is not an ordinary isolation. It is not continuous: there are gaps in it, located at certain, approximately equal, intervals. Thanks to them, the electrical impulse, as it were, "jumps" along the nerve fiber and reaches the target much faster.

In acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, the myelin sheath is destroyed. The propagation of nerve impulses is disrupted. This is the reason for the onset of neurological symptoms.

Why does acute disseminated encephalomyelitis occur?

Most often, the disease is provoked by viral infections: mumps (mumps), chickenpox, measles, rubella. Sometimes bacterial infections such as Lyme disease act as a provoking factor. There are cases when the OREM developed after the introduction of vaccines. Sometimes the disease occurs for no apparent reason.

In acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, the immune system begins to attack the myelin sheaths of its own nerve cells. In other words, OREM is an autoimmune pathology.

What are the signs of the wholesale electricity market?

OREM can manifest itself in different symptoms, depending on which part of the brain is affected:

Movement disorders - usually weakening in one half of the body (with damage to the cerebral cortex).
Impaired coordination of movements. They become awkward, imprecise. It is difficult for a person to maintain balance while standing, while walking (with damage to the cerebellum).
Muscle tone disorders, lethargy. Symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease appear (with damage to the nerve centers located deep in the cerebral hemispheres - they also suffer with parkinsonism).
Eye movement disorders. It becomes impossible to turn the eyeballs in any direction due to damage to the nerve centers that regulate the work of the oculomotor muscles.

In addition, there are general symptoms of brain damage: epileptic seizures, attention, thinking.

The difference between WECM and multiple sclerosis is that all symptoms occur once, and after a while they disappear. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic pathology in which exacerbations develop periodically.

What examination is prescribed for WECM?

The main diagnostic method is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The images in the brain show clearly visible foci. Usually, the doctor does not doubt the diagnosis.

Also, a neurologist may prescribe a lumbar puncture. The patient is placed on his side, local anesthesia is performed, and a needle is inserted between the lumbar vertebrae. A small amount of cerebrospinal fluid is obtained and sent for analysis. An increased number of immune cells-lymphocytes is found in it.

WECM treatment

The main method of treatment for acute disseminated encephalomyelitis is the use of drugs of adrenal cortex hormones (glucocorticoids). They suppress the activity of immune cells and inflammation in the brain. In rare cases, if the disease is difficult, the doctor prescribes blood purification using plasmapheresis.

In addition, medications are prescribed that help fight the symptoms of the WECM: anticonvulsants, diuretics to eliminate edema, etc.

Rehabilitation treatment after suffering a WECM includes physiotherapy, massage, physiotherapy exercises. It helps to quickly restore the functions of the nervous system and return to normal activities. In the Yusupov hospital, rehabilitology is given increased attention, here this direction is very well developed.

In most cases, complete recovery occurs, all symptoms disappear. The impaired functions of the nervous system are restored. Rarely, in a very severe course of the WECM, patients die.

Sometimes after a while, the symptoms of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis recur again. In this case, they speak of a recurrent form of the disease.

Bibliography

ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases)
Yusupov hospital
Gusev E.I., Demina T.L. Multiple sclerosis // Consilium Medicum: 2000. - № 2.
Jeremy Taylor. Darwin Health: Why We Get Sick and How Evolution is Connected = Jeremy Taylor “Body by Darwin: How Evolution Shapes Our Health and Transforms Medicine”. - M .: Alpina Publisher, 2016 .-- 333 p.
A.N. Boyko, O.O. Favorova // Molecular. biology. 1995. - T.29, No. 4. -S.727-749.