Dementia is a disease that affects the brain and leads to memory and behaviour impairments. Currently, there is no known cure for any form of dementia and not many medications exist to improve outcomes of the disease. Some recent studies show that mild damage to memory and thought processes can be reversed through treatments that do not involve the use of drugs. These treatments allow the brain to adapt and change in people of all ages and therefore makes it possible to reverse damage in early stages of dementia. It is possible that the brain’s impaired ability to adapt and change due to brain damage from dementia is why drug treatments do not seem to help patients. This is likely why patients with milder signs or forms of dementia show improvements after non-drug treatments, evident in brain image studies.
In one study performed by Yoshihito Shigihara and colleagues at a geriatric health services facility, non-drug treatments were used for 21 dementia patients which consisted of 12 females and 9 males with an average age of 85.4 years. These treatments involved daily exercise, as well as helping them reminisce about their past for enjoyment, and proper nursing care as the mandatory treatments. There were also optional activities that included gardening, colouring books, and crossword puzzles. The patients completed these activities daily during their stays which usually lasted a few months or anywhere from 30 to 147 days. The amount of time patients spent on these activities depended on their condition and lasted 20-40 minutes each. Each patient’s behaviour and judgement was measured before and after the experiment and they also had magnetoencephalography (MEG) scans before and after the experiment which measures activity levels in the brain and uses sensors to form an image.
It was found that non-drug treatments lead to improvements in memory and thought processing while there was no change in behaviours associated with the disease, like aggression. The study also found that activity in the right half of the brain changed in areas known as the right temporal lobe and fusiform gyrus after treatment which correlated with changes in scores on a test that measures the amount of impairment in thought processes and behaviour. Changes in beta waves, which are dominant in decision-making and problem solving, were correlated with Dementia Behaviour Disturbance Scale (DBD-13) scores and therefore the brain’s ability to adapt and change in the patients. There was also an increase in low-gamma activity, which is correlated with improved memory, happiness, and a high IQ. Alpha wave levels were reduced during the study which was consistent with the rest of the results as beta waves begin to replace alpha waves during tasks that require increased attention. The improvement shown by the participants in the study was not found to be correlated with age or the initial state of their brain function at the start of the study.
The results of this study provides evidence that non-drug treatments do in fact improve the quality of life of patients with symptoms of dementia. Since the benefits provided by the treatment did not depend on the age or how much the patients were initially impacted by their symptoms, there is a possibility that non-drug treatments may also improve the quality of life of those with later stages of dementia. The type of dementia present also did not seem to alter the outcomes of the treatment as patients with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease both showed improvements with the alternative treatment. A combination of different mentally stimulating activities are able to change the resting-state activity of the brain which improves dementia symptoms and this method should be used in order to improve the quality of life of primary care patients with any form of dementia.
References
Shigihara, Y., Hoshi, H., Shinada, K., Okada, T., & Kamada, H. (2020). Non-pharmacological treatment changes brain activity in patients with dementia. Scientific Reports, 10(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-020-63881-0
