How to treat radiation encephalopathy?

Speaking of radiation encephalopathy, I believe many people have never paid attention to it in their lives. In fact, this is a serious brain damage disease. One-third of patients cannot receive treatment, which may cause death. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to scientific treatment methods.

1. What is radiation encephalopathy?

Radiation encephalopathy (REP) refers to a central nervous system disease caused by the degeneration and necrosis of neurons due to radiation exposure of brain tissue and the combined action of multiple factors. REP can occur during radiation therapy for a variety of conditions, including brain tumors, extracranial (nasopharyngeal carcinoma), or leukemic encephalopathy. REP seriously affects patients' survival time and quality of life and is the most serious complication after radiotherapy. The course of the disease is progressive, and once it occurs it is often irreversible and often has a poor prognosis. There is currently no clinically recognized effective treatment option. Radiation brain damage is one of the serious sequelae after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Once radiation brain damage occurs, nearly 1/3 of patients will die.

2. Clinical staging and classification

REP is divided into acute REP, early delayed REP, and late delayed REP according to the length of the latency period for symptoms to appear after radiotherapy. Acute REP occurs within hours or days to one month after radiotherapy; early delayed REP occurs within 1-6 months after radiation exposure; late delayed REP generally occurs within 6 months to 2 years after brain radiotherapy, and the incubation period for some patients can be more than 6 years.

According to the site of onset, radiation encephalopathy is classified into temporal lobe type, brainstem type, cerebellar type and mixed type. The temporal lobe type is mostly located at the base of the temporal lobe and may involve the posterior frontal lobe and the lower parietal lobe; the brainstem type is mostly centered on the brainstem and occasionally extends to both ends, up to the thalamus and down to the upper end of the cervical spinal cord. Cerebellar type lesions are mainly located in the cerebellar hemispheres, and may also affect the cerebellar vermis or along the cerebellar peduncles to the periphery of the brainstem; the mixed type refers to the occurrence of two or more of the above types at the same time.

3. Diet therapy

Control energy: Control energy intake. Eat more complex sugars, such as starch and corn, and less glucose, fructose and sucrose, which are monosaccharides and can easily cause high blood lipids.

Limit fat: Limit your fat intake. When cooking, choose vegetable oil and eat more marine fish. Marine fish contains unsaturated fatty acids, which can oxidize cholesterol, thereby lowering plasma cholesterol, prolonging platelet aggregation, inhibiting thrombosis, and preventing stroke. It also contains more linoleic acid, which has a certain effect on increasing the elasticity of microvessels, preventing blood vessel rupture, and preventing complications of hypertension.

Protein intake: Eat protein in moderation. Eating fish protein 2-3 times a week can improve vascular elasticity and permeability, increase urinary sodium excretion, and thus lower blood pressure. If hypertension is accompanied by renal insufficiency, protein intake should be limited

Food: Eat more foods rich in potassium and calcium and low in sodium. Such as potatoes, eggplants, kelp, and lettuce. Foods high in calcium: milk, yogurt, and dried shrimps. Eat less broth, because the nitrogen extract in broth increases, which can promote the increase of uric acid in the body and increase the burden on the heart, liver, and kidneys.