Non-pharmaceutical Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Over the years, the treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have significantly evolved, introducing possibilities for non-pharmaceutical treatment. Managing factors such as diet, exercise, and sleep paired with cognitive therapies such as reality orientation training, computerized cognitive therapy, and emotional therapies like reminiscence therapy are being studied for their effectiveness in treating Alzheimer’s disease. It has been found that foods such as leafy greens, lean proteins, and foods rich in omega 3’s, vitamin 3, and whole grains can keep the brain healthy. Exercise is being studied for its ability to increase the presence of the FNDC5/irisin protein in the brain, which is able to enhance synaptic connections in the brain and could rescue the memory impairment that is characteristic of AD. Many of these treatments are also being studied for their preventive efficacy, which could revolutionize Alzheimer’s treatment. Getting good amounts of sleep nightly, for example, is linked with good brain health later on in life. Conversely, getting poor sleep during adulthood has often led to some form of dementia later in life. Many current Alzheimer’s treatments act to mitigate symptoms rather than addressing the root cause or reversing previously done damage. Knowing that there is currently no known cure, taking up a preventive method of care for those predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease opens up the possibility of delaying the onset of symptoms. Different physicians and specialists go about treatments in various ways, often to do with their patient’s particular situation and how late they were diagnosed. Overall, this allows discussion into whether pharmaceutical approaches are perhaps not the only viable option and non-traditional approaches should also be studied in more detail to present an effective treatment.