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Although neurosyphilis is a neurological disease, neuropsychiatric symptoms might appear due to overall damage to the brain. These symptoms can make the diagnosis more difficult and can include symptoms of dementia , [ 8 ] [ 9 ] mania , psychosis , depression , [ 10 ] and delirium : [ 11 ]
Involvement of the central nervous system in syphilis (either asymptomatic or symptomatic) can occur at any stage of the infection. [21] It may occur early, being either asymptomatic or in the form of syphilitic meningitis ; or late as meningovascular syphilis, manifesting as general paresis or tabes dorsalis .
In some instances a disease can be carried with no symptoms, which leaves a greater risk of passing the disease on to others. Depending on the disease, some untreated STIs can lead to infertility, chronic pain or death. [12] The presence of an STI in prepubescent children may indicate sexual abuse. [13]
General paresis, also known as general paralysis of the insane (GPI), paralytic dementia, or syphilitic paresis is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder, classified as an organic mental disorder, and is caused by late-stage syphilis and the chronic meningoencephalitis and cerebral atrophy that are associated with this late stage of the disease when left untreated.
[1] [2] "Tabes dorsalgia" is a related lancinating back pain. [citation needed] "Tabetic gait" is a characteristic ataxic gait of untreated syphilis where the person's feet slap the ground as they strike the floor due to loss of proprioception. In daylight the person can avoid some unsteadiness by watching their own feet. [citation needed]
When the nervous system is infected at this particular stage, the individual is at risk for meningeal syphilis, which in turn slowly shuts down the entire body. The tertiary stages can also cause the growth of many tumors, and lead to cancerous effects in the body. This stage can be diagnosed through specific tests in serology. The nonspecific ...
“The brain changes, and it doesn’t recover when you just stop the drug because the brain has been actually changed,” Kreek explained. “The brain may get OK with time in some persons. But it’s hard to find a person who has completely normal brain function after a long cycle of opiate addiction, not without specific medication treatment.”
Rarely, treated individuals can have relapse of infection weeks to months later. There is evidence that aberrant inflammation triggered by herpes simplex can result in granulomatous inflammation in the brain, which responds to steroids. [16] While the herpes virus can be spread, encephalitis itself is not infectious.