This is a serious neurodegenerative disease with a progressive course. In recent years, this disease has become more and more common in Russia. And the worst thing is that at the moment there is no cure for this disease. The picture of the disease is as follows. First, a person with asthma begins to deteriorate in memory and attention, then mental processes such as thinking and perception are disrupted, and as the disease progresses, severe violations of gnosis and praxis begin. Motor functions are depressed and fine motor skills are completely impaired. Apathy and exhaustion develop, speech is impaired. In the end, the person becomes bedridden. Most often, such patients die from pressure ulcers and pneumonia. The duration of the disease is from 5 to 10 years. There are cases when, with certain care, treatment and psychological assistance, the time from diagnosis of the disease to death increased to 22 years. According to scientists, by 2050 the number of patients with asthma will double compared to today. It is believed that this disease People over 65 years of age suffer. However, recent data suggest that the disease has become much younger. There are many cases where this disease is already diagnosed in people starting at the age of 40. The picture clearly shows the differences between the brain of a healthy person and the brain of a person with AD. However, changes in the cerebral cortex, enlargement of the cerebral ventricles and shrinkage of the hippocampus are not all the problems of a patient with AD. The fact is that so-called beta-amyloid plaques form in the brain tissue. Beta amyloids are peptides consisting of 40 amino acid residues. The role of these peptides in the human body has not been fully studied and currently remains a mystery. The peptide that causes AD is called amyloid Aβ42. It is believed that its amount in relation to other amyloids is no more than 10%. However, it is Aβ42 that triggers a complex set of processes at the biochemical and cellular levels that ultimately lead to Alzheimer's disease. To date, there is no effective drug that can stop or significantly slow down the formation of amyloid plaques. This photo clearly shows atrophic changes in the brain in Alzheimer's disease. In practice, the condition of patients is often complicated by atherosclerosis of the brachiocephalic arteries. And often stenotic. This suggests that certain areas of the brain do not receive enough nutrition, and most importantly, oxygen, which leads to the death of entire conglomerates of neurons. And although the main arteries supplying our brain have many natural anastomoses, stenosis of one or two middle arteries leads to ischemia of certain areas and, as a result, over time, to dyscirculatory encephalopathy. Which significantly worsens the condition of the patient with asthma. Not only is the brain tissue affected by amyloid plaques, but due to stenosis, atrophy of entire sections of the cerebral cortex also occurs. Despite the fact that AD is a rather serious disease, the question arises: does the patient need psychological help and what is involved in this? What can a psychologist do about the situation? Especially if there are no medications that can cope with the disease? I think that help is needed. Moreover, regular work with a psychologist can not only slow down the decline of mental processes, but also somewhat improve the patient’s condition. The main target of influence of the therapeutic process here should be cognitive processes - imagination, thinking, speech, memory, as well as attention, fine motor skills, praxis, and the emotional sphere. About what methods of psychotherapeutic influence are best used in practice and what techniques are suitable for this, I'll tell you in my next article.