While the medical establishment has very few effective ways to treat dementia, there are some alternative ways that are being validated with research studies.
A new review of studies that involved 23,000 dementia patients leads the way. The researchers found that having dementia patients engage in outdoor activities was clinically more effective than their taking anti-psychotic medication among patients that were physically aggressive.
Let me give you my read as to why they would get these results and it has to do with lighting and sunlight. For years at my speaking programs, I’ve been talking about and demonstrating with muscle checking the powerful effects of full spectrum lighting verses sunlight verses cool white fluorescent tubes on how people feel and function.
While sunlight is a great option, in more Northern climates people can’t go out and get the benefits of sunshine from the late fall through the winter and early spring. In addition, the sun’s wavelength at these latitudes during those times of the year are not giving the patient the effects of the full spectrum from sunlight. In addition, they have very little skin being exposed to the sun during these months.
This means these dementia patients are inside most of the time and the lighting they are under is cool white fluorescent tubes.
The research I’ve done with clients comparing full spectrum tubes to cool while tubes has found in the business arena that late afternoon productivity levels soar, fatigue levels and headaches disappear while positive attitudes increase. With kids with ADHD, they are calmer and are able to learn better.
So…what the researchers need to look at is comparing dementia patients under the cool white tubes to patients under full spectrum tubes to see what the difference is, which I predict will be VERY dramatic!
The second piece that the researchers discovered was that patients who were physically agitated benefited from massage and touch therapy. Keep in mind that dementia patients in nursing homes are not touched in a loving caring way. They are touched for medical procedures or to be bathed.
I think the sense of touch is crucial for these patients to feel grounded and connected and not frustrated or agitated.
Let me share a story with you. I visited my mom when she was in an Alzheimer’s facility. She could only get about 2 words out before she was talking in gobbledygook. I decide to rub her shoulders. She then took my hand and had me stroke her head. When I’d stop, she’d take my hand and placed it on her head for me to continue rubbing. What I observed was that she was able to start saying short sentences when I did that.
Basically, I believe that she was starved for loving and caring physical contact which I think is why massage and touch therapy is having such a positive impact on dementia patients. So…maybe we need to treat dementia patients more like they are at a spa and give them some pampering every day.
If you want to learn more about full spectrum tubes and bulbs, you can go to my website at https://teplitz.com/lights.htm. Just so you are aware LED lights at this point are not full spectrum, so they won’t have a positive impact.
(Reported Prevention, January 2020)
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