BBC News reports on a fascinating study using light therapy to improve dementia.
Dementia could be slowed significantly by treatments which reset the body’s natural clock, researchers have said.
The Dutch team used brighter daytime lighting – with or without the drug melatonin – to improve patients’ sleep, mood and cut aggressive behaviour.
It concludes that these can slow deterioration by 5% – which a UK specialist said meant patients living in their own homes for months longer.
The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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The disruption to the body’s circadian rhythm – the natural cycle that governs sleep and wakefulness – can be one of the most difficult of dementia symptoms for carers to cope with.
It can mean that people with the illness can be asleep during the day, but fully awake for periods during the night.
Other studies have suggested that the use of bright room lighting and melatonin can help adjust the “clock”, and the researchers from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam managed to recruit 189 care home residents to take part in an unique trial.
Six of the care homes taking part had lighting installed, and this was turned on between 9am and 6pm every day.
Some of the patients, most of whom had some form of dementia, received melatonin, a naturally-occurring hormone, and their progress was then monitored for at least the next year.
Those who had melatonin, but no extra lighting, had better sleep patterns, but tended to be more withdrawn and have a worse mood.
However, patients having melatonin and bright light together managed to avoid these mood problems.
Even having the light without melatonin slowed “cognitive deterioration” by 5% compared with those homes which did not install brighter lighting, and depressive symptoms fell by 19%.
‘Spectacular’
The study authors said that care homes should consider introducing the lights for their residents with dementia.
Dr Michael Hastings, from the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge, and himself a researcher into circadian rhythms and Alzheimer’s disease, said the study results were “spectacular”.
“Although 5% may not sound like a huge amount, it compares well with treatments such as Aricept designed to slow the progression of the illness.
“Over the course of Alzheimer’s, it could represent six months, and you have to remember that the light therapy is completely non-invasive, and melatonin is a very gentle drug.”
He said that sleep disturbances were often the “final straw” for relatives trying to cope for people with dementia.
“You can have a situation where someone is asleep for part of the day, then at 3am will be awake, wandering around the house, turning the gas on. Relatives can manage quite a few of the symptoms of mild or moderate dementia, but this can be too much.
“It’s a crunch issue, and if someone could be kept at home for an extra six months, rather than placed in a care home, there are huge personal and social benefits.”
He added that since circadian rhythm disruption was a feature of other neurological diseases, such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s, there might also be an application for the therapy elsewhere.
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8 Comments
Was the melatonin given at bedtime or through out the day and what was the doseage.
How much light, of what spectrum, given in what manner was found useful?
I used the drug, “Rozerem” and it helped me with recurring Mono symptoms- to re-establish my sleep-wake cycle.
My father has dementia, and when he reached the sleep disruption phase it was difficult. My dad was up as much as six times a night until his gerontologist suggested melatonin. We started with .5 milligram. It is possible to build up a tolerance to it and have to take more, and that happened over a period of time. However, after finding a higher quality product through a doctor, I was able to drop him back to .5 mg. About 1/2 to 1 hr before bed works for my dad. Also, if you give too much, it seems to have a rebound effect – go to sleep quickly and then wake up later, wide awake.
Another benefit to melatonin is that they don’t wake up drugged the next day, like they do when taking a sedative. Some of the most popular ones given to the elderly have been linked to a 300% greater chance of falls (and consequently broken bones) according to his gerontologist.
would melatonin help parkinson patients sleep better?
How do television light and sound affect sleep cycles with multiple symptom patients (short term memory, dementia, OCD, lymphoproliferative disease, et al.). Family member cannot sleep without television light and sound.
I also would like to know about melatonin dosage & amount & type of light. My husband has just been diagnosed with parkinsons & has sleep issues
thank you for your reply
I am familiar with melatonin over the counter pills because I take it. If it is a hormone why is this pill taken by mouth? wouldn’t the stomach acids destroy it’s effectiveness? I learned that insulin given by mouth is not effective and has to be injected to be useful.