Neuralgia - a disease that barely tolerated because of the severe pain. The effectiveness of the treatment of neuralgia depends on the duration of the disease: the sooner the patient to see a doctor, the easier it will be to help him. Especially difficult to treat neuralgia, caused the elderly.

Neuralgia - pain caused by nerve damage. The most common form of it - trigeminal neuralgia. A related but more rare - neuralgia, affecting the glossopharyngeal nerve. Neuralgia usually appears in older people, but can occur at any age.

Causes

Causes of neuralgia include:

• Certain medications
• Chemical irritants
• Chronic renal failure
• Diabetes
• Infections such as herpes zoster Shingles - from simple ailments and brain damage Syphilis Syphilis - punishment of Venus Lyme disease
• Porphyria
• Pressure on nerves (e.g., tumors)
• Swelling and irritation (inflammation)
• Trauma (including surgery)

In many cases, the cause is unknown.

Symptoms

• Limiting the functioning of the body because of the pain, or muscle weakness due to nerve injury
• Increased sensitivity of the skin or numbness of the skin in a certain area (similar to the action of an anesthetic injection)
• Pain along certain nerve
• Pain anywhere, but usually on the surface of the body or close to it
• Pain in the same place
• Strong stabbing pain that comes and goes, or constant burning pain

Any touch or pressure is felt as pain. Movement may also be painful.

Examination

Examination may show:

• The unusual sensitivity of the skin
• The disappearance of deep tendon reflexes
• Loss of muscle mass
• Anhidrosis
• Sensitivity along nerve
• Trigger points (areas where even a slight touch causes pain)

Oral examination may show that pain in the face is not nerve damage, and, for example, tooth abscess. Other symptoms (redness, swelling) may indicate an infection, bone fracture or rheumatoid arthritis Arthritis - a variety of forms and complications .

There are no specific tests for neuralgia, but can be carried out the following examinations:

• Blood test to determine the sugar and kidney function
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Rheotachygraphy
• Lumbar puncture

Treatment

The goal of treatment - contact or control the cause of the nerve problem (if it is found out) and relieve pain. The treatment varies depending on the cause, location and intensity of pain.

Even if the cause neuralgia is not set, the condition can be improved by itself with time.

If you can figure out the cause, it should be treated. This can be a tumor removal or separation of nerve blood vessel. This can sometimes be done in the case of a tunnel syndrome and trigeminal neuralgia.

Control of blood sugar can accelerate the recovery of patients with diabetes who develop neuralgia.

Drugs for pain control include:

• Antidepressants (amitriptyline, nortriptyline, duloksitin)
• Anticonvulsive drugs (carbamazepine, gabapentin, lamotrigine or phenytoin) for trigeminal neuralgia
• Mild analgesics (aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen)
• Narcotic analgesics (codeine) for short-term relief of severe pain
• Topical creams containing capsaicin

Other treatments:

• Local injection of painkillers
• Block anesthesia
• Surgical removal procedures in order to reduce the sensitivity of nerve.

Unfortunately, these procedures do not provide a guaranteed effect, and can cause a loss of sensation or abnormal sensations.

• If other methods do not work, doctors may try to stimulation of the cerebral cortex electrodes.
• Treating shingles with antiviral drugs help reduce the likelihood of developing postherpetic neuralgia. This type of neuralgia is treatable with prednisone.
• Physical therapy may be helpful for some types of neuralgia, especially postherpetic.

Forecast

Most neuralgias are not life-threatening and are not a sign of dangerous diseases. However, pain can be very severe. In this case, it is necessary to seek professional help to determine treatment options.

In most cases, neuralgia treatable. Attacks of pain often occur and tested. But attacks may become more frequent with age.

Possible complications

• Complications after surgery
• Disability caused by pain
• Side effects of medications

When to see a doctor:

• If you have a shingles Ringworm - not only infectious disease
• You have developed symptoms of neuralgia, which do not pass after the application of OTC
• You have a very strong pain

Prevention

Treatment-related diseases such as diabetes or renal failure, may prevent neuralgia. Controlling blood sugar levels to prevent nerve damage in diabetics. In the case of shingles may antiviral agents can prevent neuralgia.

Neuroprotective drugs are now widely used in the treatment of a variety of brain lesions, and reduced intelligence. These preparations generally protect the brain from various injuries and reduced higher functions. It is to such drugs is noopept.

Operating principle

Noopept main action lies in the fact that by acting on metabolism Improves metabolism and losing weight without dieting   in the brain, it improves its energy metabolism. Brain cells that have received an additional amount of energy for biochemical processes, less need for oxygen and are also active in terms of its shortcomings. This is a very important property, since in most cases, reduced brain function on a background of lack of oxygen. This happens with atherosclerosis (cholesterol plaques partially blocks a blood vessel) in ischemic stroke (the same of plaque or a blood clot completely blocked vessel lumen) after traumatic brain injury (adhesions compress blood vessels and part of their search through the lumen). As a result of all these processes is formed by a non-inflammatory damage brain cells of various origins, which is called encephalopathy.

Under the influence of noopept brain cells begin to gradually recover, improve their communication with other cells as adjacent, and in the other hemisphere, as well as communication between the cells of the cerebral cortex (commander in chief) and subcortical regions that perform command cortex. Such communication plays a major role in the reconstruction of the higher functions of the brain.

Noopept also has a neuroprotective effect, i.e. it protects the brain cells from any damage. So, on the basis of studies it has been found that if an ischemic stroke (it occurs when a blood vessel blockage) occur in patients receiving noopept, the affected area of ​​nerve cells was significantly less than in ischemic stroke, which occurred without the use of nootropics. The recovery period after a stroke, traumatic brain injury, toxic and inflammatory brain lesions during therapy Noopept also proceeded faster than without it.

Noopept actively influences the free radicals formed as a result of redox reactions. It is known that free radicals cause aging brain damage. Noopept prevents their effect on the brain - an antioxidant effect.

Finally, it was found that noopept exerts antithrombotic effect. This is due to improved blood rheology, ie its flow through the blood vessels. Furthermore, noopept prevents agglutination (aggregation) of blood platelets. It is glued platelets are the nucleus from which clots are formed, so antiagregatine action in conjunction with the improvement of the rheological properties of blood eliminates the risk of blood clots in the blood vessels of the brain.

Areas of use

As a result of all these processes under the influence of noopept patient is gradually beginning to recover brain function. A few days after starting the drug are fears, anxiety, irritability Irritability - you try to control my temper , Temper, mood swings Mood swings in women - bad character or a disease?   and gradually recovering night's sleep Dreams: how to understand our dreams . After a long course of treatment (about three weeks), and improving higher functions of the brain - intellect, memory, the ability to perceive something new, the ability for a long time to focus on specific subjects and tasks. Certainly, the restoration of the higher functions of the brain is slow, it will take no course of the drug, but positive changes are becoming more distinct.

Noopept widely used in the reduction of stroke patients, after head injuries, after inflammatory diseases of the brain (encephalitis and meningoencephalitis), after various toxic effects on the brain (eg, alcohol, drugs, certain psychotropic drugs). In the treatment and prevention of dementia noopept it has a leading role - he is able to slow down the aging process of the brain and a violation of his higher functions.

Noopept contraindicated in hypersensitive to the components of the drug, pregnancy, lactation and in children. These restrictions are due to the fact that not conducted clinical trials of the drug in these groups of patients. In laboratory conditions, the negative effects on the fetus during pregnancy has not been revealed.

Before the drug slight side effects such as high blood pressure. In addition, of course, possible allergic reactions.

Noopept - domestic nootrop, which has a positive effect on the brain in all its defeats.

Galina Romanenko