Alzheimer's disease is one of nature's cruelest inventions to date. Our memories of ourselves and our loved ones make up the fabric of our lives; we are our memories. To have them taken away in small segments over the course of years is a terrible way to live for both patient and their family. For the patient, they are living in a constant state of fear and anticipation. Not having lucid memories of events and people, they spend every moment frightened of their own children whom they see as strangers. For the family and friends of Alzheimer's patients the realisation that your parent does not remember you is heartbreaking. It's also terrifying to realise that many missing persons cases are actually Alzheimer's disease patients who have wondered away from their home not knowing the dangers they may encounter on their own.
At the present time there is no cure for this terrible disease but there are some ways to help the patient to fight against it and retain many of their precious memories.
Many researchers all over the world are encouraging their Alzheimer's patient to take up swimming as a way to boost their memory. When a person swims or performs other activities in the water their brain and body work in unison to perform the task. Older Alzheimer's sufferers also seem to have many strong memories associated with swimming such as long summers spent by their local beach or teaching their own children to swim. Researchers are also looking at the effects of playing music to Alzheimer's patients, particularly their favourite songs or ones from their past. Family members are encouraged to sit down with the victim of Alzheimer's and to create a play list of their favourite tunes. This can be the anchor to the victim who can listen to this album whenever they want. As the disease progresses this music will help them to remember times in the past and will also help to give them a stronger grip on the present.
Other memory games include creating mnemonics and word lists. Mnemonics are short poems or phrases that are also great memory aides, such as the phrase "Roy G Biv" to help people to remember the colours of a rainbow where every letter in the name corresponds to the colour: Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet. Lists are also great ways to help to improve the memory of a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
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