Brain edema and its danger

Edema of the brain is a fairly frequent disease that can manifest itself as an independent pathology that occurs against the background of the underlying disease, or as a complication after the flu, colds and so on. This is characterized by the accumulation of excess fluid in the cells of both the brain and spinal cord. This can occur due to a violation of the normal water flow in these organs.

At what diseases is cerebral edema likely? These are, first of all, brain tumors, meningitis, encephalitis, craniocerebral trauma, abscess, brain cancer. This can be attributed to a dozen diseases, but for them the appearance of edema is not always characteristic. In children, most often cerebral edema is a consequence of a transmitted infection, pneumonia, poisoning, toxicosis. It is believed that outflow of fluid is hampered by vascular function impairment due to the oxygen starvation of brain cells.

The edema of the brain is a danger, first of all, due to the fact that the person is disturbed by blood supply, respiratory function, intracranial pressure increases, confusion of consciousness, loss of orientation, and malfunctions in the heart can occur. If you do not know anything about this disease, then a person may not even suspect that he develops cerebral edema. Symptoms of it may be as follows: convulsions, headache, drowsiness, difficulty in orientation in space, violation of breathing, pain in the heart. The patient may lose consciousness or stop responding to others.

There are two types of brain edema: local and generalized. With local edema, fluid accumulation is characteristic around the area of pathology, for example, around an abscess or tumor. It can develop due to a bruise or a cerebral infarction. Generalized edema completely captures the brain and is a more dangerous pathology.

Since cerebral edema is a difficult-to-diagnose disease, it is necessary to suspect its appearance in any loss of consciousness and spatial orientation by a person, especially if the person has had an infection before the day before. The main method of diagnosis in a hospital is radiography of the skull, computed tomography and neurosonography, allowing a fairly accurate diagnosis.

You can also mention auxiliary diagnostic tools. These are neuro-ophthalmoscopy, electroencephalography, cerebral angiography and brain scanning with the help of radioactive isotopes. Along with the means of basic diagnostics, these methods will help in refining the diagnosis - edema of the brain.
The treatment is conservative and is aimed at restoring normal breathing, circulation and reducing intracranial pressure. To this end, the use of diuretics to remove excess water from the body, as well as craniocerebral hypothermia, which involves cooling the head and reducing the need for brain cells in oxygen, is recommended. Along with this, drugs that are the protectors of the brain, for example, seduxen, droperidol or sodium oxybutyrate are used.

In addition, the use of osmodiuretics, capable of stimulating diuresis, is shown, which causes the fluid accumulated in the intracellular space to pass into the vascular bed. These are drugs such as sorbitol, mannitol and glycerol. Apply and barbiturates, which reduce puffiness and prevent seizures. In addition, drugs that restore vascular tone and have a positive effect on blood composition, as well as inhibitors and substances that strengthen cell membranes are used.

A sick person needs bed rest and rest. To ensure normal breathing, you need to take care of the inflow into the room, where the diseased is, fresh air.