Is it true that the diagnosis of vegetative-vascular dystonia exists only in the post-Soviet space?

Some Media And experts claim that vegetative-vascular dystonia (VSD) does not exist in nature, and doctors “throw away” such a diagnosis in order, firstly, not to strain themselves with a lengthy examination, and secondly, to earn more money from almost healthy people. The main argument in such reasoning is usually the fact that the diagnosis of VSD is not in the International Classification of Diseases. We decided to find out whether such a disease really does not exist anywhere except in post-Soviet countries.

Under VSD usually is understood a wide range of symptoms affecting the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal systems. The most common complaint of such patients is frequent headache, as well as general vegetative symptoms: slightly increased or decreased temperature, asthenia, numbness, coldness and sweating of the extremities, anxiety and irritability.

The name contains three medical roots. “Vegeto” describes the fact that the symptoms affect the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for the activity of internal organs, endocrine and exocrine glands, blood and lymphatic vessels, maintaining the constancy of the internal environment of the body and adaptive reactions. “Vascular” - that is, associated with arteries, veins and capillaries. “Dystonia” is a violation of tone. That is, VSD is various disorders of the autonomic and vascular system caused by a decrease in tone. Term suggested Academician of Medical Sciences of the USSR N.N. Savitsky in the late 1950s. By statistics VSD is one of the most “popular” diagnoses among therapists, cardiologists, neurologists and psychotherapists: it is diagnosed in up to 50% of patients who seek medical help. At the same time, the number of erroneously diagnosed VSDs reaches 72%. Such a prevalence of the diagnosis in the post-Soviet space Ulyana Suprun, doctor of medicine and former acting. O. Minister of Health of Ukraine, explains like this: “This is a big Soviet myth that was born in the absence of access to a base of sources of evidence-based medicine.”

IN ICD-10 Indeed, the diagnosis of vegetative-vascular dystonia is not mentioned, but there is a similar-sounding diagnosis - somatoform autonomic dysfunction of the nervous system (coded as F45.3 in the section “Mental disorders and behavioral disorders”). It is based on either “complaints based on objective signs of autonomic irritation, such as palpitations, sweating, flushing, tremors, and expressions of fear and anxiety regarding possible health problems,” or “subjective complaints of a nonspecific or variable nature, such as transient pain throughout the body, a feeling of heat, heaviness, fatigue, or bloating, which the patient relates to some organ or organ system.” That is, it sounds as similar as possible to VSD, but the international disorder is treated by a psychiatrist, and the Russian disorder is treated by therapists and neurologists at best. At worst, patients are offered alternative medicine methods: reduction cervical vertebrae and acupuncture.

The list of possible symptoms for VSD is so large that almost any disease can be adjusted to it. Unfortunately, unscrupulous doctors can use this “umbrella diagnosis” to get rid of the patient by prescribing harmless nootropics and mild sedatives. At the same time, under the VSD can mask much more dangerous diseases: thyroid disorders, anemia, chronic inflammatory processes of various body systems, mental disorders and even autoimmune diseases. Therefore, having received such a diagnosis, it is worth undergoing a thorough examination to exclude more dangerous pathologies.

Thus, as a diagnosis of VSD, it really exists only in the post-Soviet space. At the same time, there are patients with similar symptoms all over the world, but their treatment protocols differ significantly from domestic methods.

Is it true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Evsegneev R.A. Why is the diagnosis of “panic disorder” better than the diagnosis of “vegetative-vascular dystonia”?
2. Gimranov R.F. VSD does not exist