Dementia is popularly referred to as a series of conditions that mainly affect people with advanced age. For many of these conditions, there is no medicine or curative treatment, only a group of interventions that can slow the degenerative process. A lot of research is still being done into the cause and treatment of dementia.
- Dementia
- Dementia is not just the loss of memory functions
- Gardens and courtyards in nursing and care homes reduce agitation and increase well-being
- Brain cells produced using stem cells help understand dementia
- Your lifestyle influences the development of dementia
- Music during meals reduces agitation and aggression in nursing and care homes
- Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of dementia
- A Mediterranean diet can help protect the aging brain against dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a collective name for disorders of memory, behavior and mood. The most common and most commonly mentioned of this condition is Alzheimer’s disease. Various brain disorders also have dementia as a symptom in addition to their specific symptoms.
Dementia is not just the loss of memory functions
Most forms of dementia, and especially Alzheimer’s disease, cause problems in the brain’s memory functions. People with dementia have difficulty storing new memories, but can still recall memories from their youth, for example. In early dementia, problems may also arise in other areas of life. Naturally, the people close to those with dementia are the first to notice these situations.
- Problems dealing with money
- Getting lost or disoriented in familiar places, such as at the home of relatives or acquaintances
- Difficulty learning to use new devices at home
Other problems can arise when the front parts of the brain (the frontal lobe) are affected first. In this case, deviations in (social) behavior may arise, such as being very distant or (too) involved. The mood of a person with dementia can also be affected, causing someone to quickly become agitated or even very sad. Depression is common and can be treated separately.
Gardens and courtyards in nursing and care homes reduce agitation and increase well-being
The majority of patients in nursing and care homes suffer from dementia. Ways to increase the well-being of patients that do not result from the use of medication are obviously preferred.
A ‘systematic review’ – a study that brings together many smaller studies of the same subject – from England examined the effect on the well-being of dementia patients in nursing and care homes where gardens and flower-filled patios from England, America, China, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Finland. The results were promising.
Family members indicated that they enjoyed meeting their loved ones in an environment that invited conversation, such as a garden. The study also found that the level of agitation in the elderly was greatly reduced among elderly people who spent time in gardens. The advice was to tailor these gardens to the different needs of people with dementia, such as a bench to sit quietly or a vegetable garden that required a little more activity from the people themselves.
There were some caveats when using a garden or patio. For example, mention is made of labor-intensive supervision that must be in place when the elderly are in the gardens, as well as safety for the elderly who stay there (for example, the risk of falling).
Brain cells produced using stem cells help understand dementia
Brains of deceased persons with dementia have been available to science for a long time. Alois Alzheimer discovered and researched the condition in this way more than 100 years ago. How exactly brain cells develop, or for that matter degenerate, in a living brain is a lot more difficult to investigate. Researchers cannot simply remove a piece of brain from a person for research. There have been many improvements in the field of radiology, but results for dementia research are still lacking.
With the help of stem cell research, various body cells, such as skin cells or white blood cells, can be converted into stem cells. These stem cells can be controlled to develop into all conceivable body cells, such as brain cells. In this way, the origin, development and course of dementia can be better studied in a laboratory.
Stem cell research is still hampered by protests, especially from religious groups. Stem cell research is prohibited in the Netherlands when it comes to stem cell therapy. This treatment involves placing new cells in the body to replace older cells, making it too similar to cloning. Research into stem cells is not prohibited, but very expensive. More research into stem cells is being conducted in countries such as South Korea, England, Switzerland and Germany.
Further development of stem cell research in dementia can lead to new therapy options in the field of dementia, as well as other forms of medical treatments.
Your lifestyle influences the development of dementia
About a third of all cases of dementia are linked to the patient’s lifestyle. Scientists conclude that adjusting your lifestyle (in time) can influence whether or not you develop a form of dementia. There are several factors that are believed to influence the development of dementia:
- Overweight or obesity
- Smoking
- Drinking alcohol excessively over a long period of time
- Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1 & 2)
- High blood pressure from middle age
The above factors can be taken into account when adjusting your lifestyle. It is of course very worthwhile to quit smoking in terms of physical health, as well as to drink less alcohol. An active and social life, with lots of vegetables and fish, seems to be the best remedy for the time being against developing dementia later in life.
Music during meals reduces agitation and aggression in nursing and care homes
A large proportion of people with dementia in the Netherlands and Belgium live in nursing and care homes, where healthcare staff are expected to provide increasingly better care to elderly people who can become agitated or aggressive. Research shows that most aggression and agitation manifests itself during meals. A systematic review of eleven studies from America, Belgium, England, Australia, Sweden and Taiwan examined various intervention strategies during meals to reduce agitation and aggression. Experiments were conducted with the color of the tableware, the amount of (sun)light during the meal, the playing of relaxing music and the table layout. At the latter, a ‘family setup’ was used, with the dementia patients all sitting at one large table and the care staff eating along with them.
In particular, the use of music during meals had a beneficial effect on the mood of the dementia patients, with an additional phenomenon that this mood persisted long after the meal.
Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of dementia
A vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia. In a six-year study in America, it was found that elderly people who had a mild vitamin D deficiency increased their risk of developing dementia by 53%. Elderly people who had a severe vitamin D deficiency had a 125% greater risk of developing dementia. In a similar study, almost the same results were found in the development of Alzheimer’s. 69% more likely with a mild vitamin D deficiency, and 122% with a severe deficiency.
Vitamin D plays a role in the immune system and the regulation of calcium and phosphate in the blood. Strictly speaking, the elderly have a greater risk of a vitamin D deficiency, because their skin absorbs sunlight more poorly. This means they are more dependent on other vitamin D sources, such as nutritional supplements but also several types of fish.
A Mediterranean diet can help protect the aging brain against dementia
A Mediterranean diet is characterized by lots of fruit and vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish and little red meat. Regularly consuming a small amount of alcohol, such as a glass of wine with dinner, is also characteristic of a Mediterranean diet. Some studies have shown that there is a link between such a diet and a reduced risk of dementia later in life.
A systematic review of 12 studies showed that remaining loyal to a Mediterranean diet was linked to better cognitive functions later in life, fewer impairments in these functions and a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s. However, there were no indications of a connection for a milder decline.
Jeanne-Louise Calment is currently the oldest woman ever, at 122 years old. She lived in the south of France and was the subject of many studies. She herself said that her old age was mainly due to her (Mediterranean) diet. In addition to this diet, she smoked from the age of 22 and ate about a kilo of chocolate per week.
