New ways to help people cope

What do angel fish and salsa music have in common? They are new ideas for comforting and stimulating people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Keep a song in your heart

If you want to light a fire inside someone with Alzheimer’s, try a little Tommy Dorsey, Pavarotti, Streisand, or even Willie Nelson.
Studies show that music can improve anybody’s awareness, memory, and communication skills. And it’s been proven that people with Alzheimer’s who listen to music in the evening are less anxious and depressed. Now, researchers at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami School of Medicine are studying how this happens.

A few male Alzheimer’s patients at a veteran’s hospital in Florida received half-hour music therapy sessions five mornings a week for four weeks. Blood levels of different hormones were checked before and after therapy.
The interactive therapy involved playing instruments, singing, and drumming. The music included big band, Broadway tunes, spirituals, opera, country and western, and Cuban folk music, whatever was of special interest to the patients. It’s important to find out what music sparks a response. quondam
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Not only did the therapists and staff notice behavioral changes, but the researchers also found hard evidence. The patients

• learned and sang new songs.
• improved their ability to follow rhythmic patterns.
• were better able to change volume and tempo within the songs.

• recalled endings of phrases and songs.
• became more socially interactive and conversed with others.

The blood tests showed changes, too. Several hormones increased temporarily, just during the four weeks of therapy. However, levels of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep patterns, mood, and sexual behavior, stayed higher even six weeks after the experiment.

Researchers know melatonin decreases with age, more so in people with Alzheimer’s. And they know over 60 percent of these people suffer from violence, sleep disorders, suicide, depression, and anxiety. If, as this study suggests, music increases melatonin levels, improving many of the behavioral problems associated with Alzheimer’s could be just a song away.

Fill a tank with tropical fish.

Even if someone with Alzheimer’s doesn’t like to eat fish, looking at fish may help them eat more. That’s what Purdue University nursing professor Nancy Edwards discovered at three Indiana nursing homes.

Special aquariums fitted with locked lids, unbreakable glass, and movable, tip-proof stands were placed in nursing homes. The colorful, moving fish immediately interested the people with Alzheimer’s. Many would sit and watch the fish for up to half an hour–an unusual behavior for these seniors. Some experienced breakthroughs in communicating and interacting with others, as well as in memory. But perhaps most importantly, their eating habits improved.

Good nutrition for people with Alzheimer’s is a real concern. Many times, supplements are the only way to ensure they’re getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals, even though this is not the healthiest strategy. Amazingly, after the fish tanks were brought in, the 60 people in the study ate up to 21 percent more food.
Try it yourself. By introducing a safe, but stimulating, pastime like this to someone with Alzheimer’s, you could improve their diet and quality of life.