The old man is unsteady? What causes unsteady walking in the elderly?

Many elderly people have such phenomena, tremors, hand tremors, unsteady walking, and slow movements. Many people think that this is a manifestation of natural aging, and they do not take it seriously, and adopt an attitude of not asking, not diagnosing or treating. Beware, you may be targeted by this progressive disease - Parkinson's disease!

The only patients are aware of their illness when they first become ill.

What is Parkinson's disease? Let's take a look at the group data.

Parkinson's disease is the fourth most common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly. Epidemiological surveys in Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai in 2016 showed that the prevalence rate was in people over 65 years old, but only patients realized that they had the disease when they first developed the disease, and the misdiagnosis rate of Parkinson's disease was as high. And in the 40-year-olds, it is.

It can also occur in childhood or adolescence.

World Health Organization experts**, by 2030, the number of Parkinson's disease patients in China will reach 5 million, and the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease is grim.

Anti-Pa drugs actually have a "honeymoon period"!

For many people with Parkinson's, taking one or two anti-Parkinson's pills a day can control symptoms such as tremors and stiffness. However, there is such a patient, the daily dose of medicine has increased to 6 tablets, but the effect is very small, and eating and dressing have become problems. What is the reason for this?

Is this an isolated phenomenon or is it universal? Is there any other way**?

The most common symptom of Parkinson's disease is tremor, which is uncontrolled shaking of the hands and feet. In addition, patients may also feel muscle stiffness, inflexibility in their hands and feet, and movements such as holding things, walking, and turning around are much slower than before, or even cannot be completed smoothly. These symptoms can be controlled with medication in the early stages.

However, the drug** has an effective period, which is medically called the "honeymoon phase", which generally lasts for 3-5 years.

At this stage, the effect of the drug** is certain. However, after that, most patients will find that the duration of the drug is getting shorter and shorter, such as 5 hours per drug in the early stage, and only one or two hours after a few years; Or you used to eat only half a tablet at a time, but later you need to increase it to one tablet to have the same effect. This phenomenon is called "end-of-dose effect" and is a common phenomenon in the course of drug treatment in Parkinson's patients.

What should I do if there are complications?

Parkinson's disease is caused by pathological changes in the substantia nigra cells of the brain, a decrease in dopamine, a decrease in the function of inhibition of acetylcholine, and the balance of these two transmitters is disrupted, which leads to the corresponding symptoms. Drugs** can be used for exogenous dopamine supplementation, but in addition to the "end-of-dose effect", patients in the middle and advanced stages may also have complications such as "drug dyskinesis" and "switching phenomenon". If the condition is allowed to worsen, the patient may eventually be unable to take care of himself.

This is a huge test for the patients themselves and their families.

With the development of medical technology, patients with Parkinson's disease who are experiencing complications can try surgery**. Robots have been introduced in neurosurgery. Patients with intermediate and advanced Parkinson's disease can also improve their symptoms through CRAS robotic surgery.

The physical condition of the elderly is declining day by day, and they are more susceptible to diseases at this time. In particular, the precursors of some diseases in the body should be taken seriously. If the elderly often have unsteady standing conditions, they should beware of stroke disease, as it may be a precursor to stroke.

Let's take a closer look at what's going on.

1.Momentary blindness or blurred vision is usually a short-lived sign of a few seconds, but in a few people it can be a few minutes. This is because the posterior cerebral arteries are narrowed and the blood supply is insufficient, affecting the visual center of the occipital lobe.

2.The occurrence of unbearable localized headache forms that are completely different from usual, such as headache from total headache to localized headache, intermittent headache to persistent headache, or accompanied by symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, which is often a precursor to subarachnoid hemorrhage or cerebral hemorrhage.

3.Sudden sensation of spinning, swaying, unsteady standing, and even fainting to the ground often occurs together with the sight of double objects and tinnitus. This is because the vertebrobasilar artery system is inadequately supplied with blood, affecting the cerebellum, which is a balance organ.

The elderly should be vigilant in the following three aspects when walking unsteadily.

Lack of Ming Hao vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency can not only cause anemia, but also spinal cord diseases such as spinal deformity, resulting in symptoms such as weakness in both lower limbs and unsteady walking. Many elderly people often suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency due to inappropriate dietary habits, such as eating too light, or not eating meat, and preferring vegetarian food.

The main ** of vitamin B12 is liver, fish, milk, and elderly friends can take more than a few bands, and they can also be supplemented by vitamin B12 tablets.

Potassium deficiency. The most prominent manifestation of hypokalemia is soreness and weakness in the limbs, and the most obvious in the lower limbs. Eat less beans, vegetables, fruits, and sweating a lot in summer are easy to lead to potassium deficiency.

Cerebral infarction. Many people think that cerebral infarction will cause hemiplegia, inflexibility of hands and feet, in fact, unsteady walking, frequent dizziness is also the early symptoms of cerebral infarction, so there are usually patients with high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, etc., the phenomenon of unsteady walking, it is best to go to the neurology department for examination, early detection and early diagnosis can be early**.

When people reach a certain age, their bodies are aging, and they will no longer be as vigorous and resolute as they were when they were young, and they will tremble when they walk, and they need someone to help them walk or use crutches to help them walk.

The common causes of unstable walking in the elderly are as follows: 1. Cervical spondylosis, cervical spine disease leading to insufficient cerebral blood supply, etc., can cause unstable walking, and cervical intervertebral disc magnetic resonance or CT examination is required to make a clear diagnosis. 2. Abnormal potassium metabolism can lead to unstable walking in the elderly, and electrolyte examination is required to make a clear diagnosis.

3. Abnormal glucose metabolism, resulting in unstable walking in the elderly, such as high or low blood sugar may lead to unstable walking in the elderly, and blood sugar can be checked to make a clear diagnosis. 4. Lumbar intervertebral disc herniation compresses nerves or severe osteoporosis, which may also cause the elderly to walk unsteadily. Imaging of the lumbar intervertebral disc or bone density can be done to confirm the diagnosis.

5. Cerebrovascular accident and intracranial space-occupying lesion can be diagnosed by head CT or MRI examination. A visit to the hospital is recommended to further confirm the diagnosis.

Disease analysis: The elderly have unsteady walking, which is often seen in brain diseases.

Guidance: Hello, the situation suggests that there is a possibility of cerebellar lesions, such as cerebral infarction, mass occupancy, etc., and you should do a brain imaging examination, such as a cranial magnetic resonance examination, etc., to further clarify the lesion, positively, I wish you good health.

That's still a problem in the brain, go do a CT and have a look.