Light Therapy For Alzheimer's

Can light therapy or sundowing as it is sometimes called help the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. Thousands of people die every year from this degenerating disease. Although research is been carried out daily, scientists are still no closer to
finding a cure.

The light therapy is mainly used in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease. It is well known for anybody who has been involved with a Alzheimer's patient that they are at their best early in the mornings. This is because as the disease progresses it affects the part of the brain that controls the circadian rhythms.What the circadian rhythm does is it controls our body clock and the sleep-wake cycle in our brain.

You will find that with an Alzheimer's patient they start to become very agitated in the late afternoon and evening. This is because there eyes become affected, and as the daylight starts to disappear they find it harder to focus on things. They even find it hard too settle during the night often wandering around the house. This is called sundowning.

The Alzheimer's light is a helmet which has infrared lights attached to it and it fits onto the head. Scientist first carried out research with this helmet on mice, results proved that it showed great improvement in their learning ability. The mice also showed signs or less agitation at night time.

The helmet was then tested on men and women aged between sixty and seventy years old. The trial was carried out for a period of twelve weeks. Half the people where given one hour of exposure to bright natural light each morning. The rest where exposed to low light each day. Tests proved that the patients who where given the bright natural light, showed signs of not being as agitated during the day and settling in bed on a night a lot longer than normal.

Tests also proved that the Alzheimer's light treatment has slowed down the deterioration of the nerve cells in the brain. Which means that an Alzheimer's patient has been able to live a lot longer in their own home.

Research is still being carried out on the light therapy at the moment. Although this is not a cure for alzheimer's disease, if this treatment can give an Alzheimer's patient a better way of light then that has got to be a positive thing.

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