Aromatherapy(1)

sunshine5

Has any one tried aromatherapy for dementia in their LO? If so, which oils help?

I hear music and aromatherapy help. May be it will help him stay awake.

DH sleeps at least 3 hours in the afternoon, though he goes for a one mile daily morning walk by himself. We take one mile evening walk together.

I told him he should keep busy. He is not motivated!

I would rather not give him any more medications, he is taking enough already!

Any suggestions?

Crushed

Anything might help a person be more comfortable and relaxed  but don't think of it as "therapy" that will keep him awake  DW liked sexual attention   Lack of motivation is typical of this disease irregular sleep patterns are typical of the disease.

 
  

Stuck in the middle

Some people like scents.  My wife would say "What's that stench?" and start looking for a can of Oust.

Walking two miles a day and taking an afternoon nap sounds to me like an adequate activity level, considering his condition.  I would leave him to do as he is doing if it were me.

ImMaggieMae

I added a couple drops of lavender oil to our hand soap dispensers. I don’t know if it affects him at all, but it smells nice. Lavender is supposed to be relaxing.

Quilting brings calm

If he is also sleeping at night, then I would let him sleep in the daytime.  The walks you mention are a good amount of activity… and his brain is broken.  That means his brain and body are not communicating well. His body needs the extra sleep as a result. 

Honestly,  as he progresses, you will need him to sleep some during the day in order to get household chores done or to have any time to yourself for things like a shower, a nap, to do things like read a magazine, make a phone call etc. 

As for the lack of motivation, apathy is normal for a dementia patient. Hobbies and activities become frustrating for them.  They can’t follow the instructions, or remember the steps, the noise bothers them.  It’s just a source of anxiety.  For example my mom got a new smart TV.  She can’t seem to figure out how to get to the channels she wants so she gets upset.  She’s just turns it off. She gets frustrated working on a group puzzle or playing Rummikub with  a table of 4 people, So she won’t participate  

there is no fixing him. No temporary reversal of his cognitive function. There is only reluctant realization that this is what it is. I don’t use the word acceptance because I don’t think any of us accept it, we just deal with it. 

Lane Simonian

The relaxing essential oils include lavender, rose, and orange.  The cogntively stimulating oils include clove, bay laurel, rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano.  A diffuser seems good for the relaxing oils; direct inhalation once a day for a few seconds is probably the best way to deliver the stimulating oils (for some people the more stimulating oils can increase anxiety and blood pressure).

Improvements noted in multiple studies in care facilities and with my own mother include increased alertness and awareness, better sleep at night, improvement in certain types of memories (object recognition, recognition of place, better conception of time, recognition or comfort among what should be familiar people, fewer delusions, less apathy, more energy).  In my own personal experience, there is only a very little improvement in short-term memory and lucidity, and not much decrease in daytime sleep.

The results from the two most important clincal trials on aromatherapy for  the treatment of Alzheimer's disease are the following:

Effect of aromatherapy on patients with Alzheimer's disease

Daiki JIMBO,Yuki KIMURA,Miyako TANIGUCHI,Masashi INOUE,Katsuya URAKAMI

 

Abstract

Objective: Recently, the importance of non-pharmacological therapies for dementia has come to the fore. In the present study, we examined the curative effects of aromatherpay in dementia in 28 elderly people, 17 of whom had Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: After a control period of 28 days, aromatherapy was performed over the following 28 days, with a wash out period of another 28 days. Aromatherapy consisted of the use of rosemary and lemon essential oils in the morning, and lavender and orange in the evening. To determine the effects of aromatherpay, patients were evaluated using the Japanese version of the Gottfries, Brane, Steen scale (GBSS-J), Functional Assessment Staging of Alzheimer's disease (FAST), a revised version of Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R), and the Touch Panel-type Dementia Assessment Scale (TDAS) four times: before the control period, after the control period, after aromatherpay, and after the washout period.

Results: All patients showed significant improvement in personal orientation related to cognitive function on both the GBSS-J and TDAS after therapy. In particular, patients with AD showed significant improvement in total TDAS scores. Result of routine laboratory tests showed no significant changes, suggesting that there were no side-effects associated with the use of aromatherapy. Results from Zarit's score showed no significant changes, suggesting that caregivers had no effect on the improved patient scores seen in the other tests.

Conclusions: In conclusion, we found aromatherapy an efficacious non-pharmacological therapy for dementia. Aromatherapy may have some potential for improving cognitive function, especially in AD patients.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1479-8301.2009.00299.x

Effect of aromatherapy in patients with Alzheimer's disease: a randomised controlled clinical trial

Abstract Background: Aromatherapy is a complementary and alternative therapeutic method that has attracted much attention worldwide. Based on the lack of clinical research on the application of aromatherapy in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in China, this study aimed to investigate the effect of aromatherapy in patients with AD. 

Methods: 54 patients with AD were randomly allocated to aromatherapy groups and control groups in a 1:1 ratio. Eventually, 25 patients in the aromatherapy group (two participants discontinued midway) and 26 in the control group (one participant discontinued midway) completed the study. Both groups of patients received conventional treatment and nursing care, and the aromatherapy group received an hour of aromatic inhalation per day for 12 weeks,the control group inhaled only distilled water per day for 12 weeks. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Neuropsychiatric Inventory–Brief Questionnaire form, Quality of LifeAlzheimer’s Disease, and four kinds of biochemical indicators were evaluated as outcome measures. Results: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory–Brief Questionnaire Form scores decreased, the Quality of Life-Alzheimer’s Disease score improved (P<0.05), the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in serum was slightly reduced, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was enhanced (P<0.05), and TNF-α and IL-6 levels were significantly reduced (P<0.05) in the aromatherapy group, compared to those of the control group. 

Conclusion: Aromatherapy can improve sleep, alleviate psychobehavioural symptoms and improve quality of life in patients with AD, which may be related to reducing the level of oxidative stress in patients and inhibiting inflammatory factors; it is a non-drug intervention that can be widely applied.

Conclusion Aromatherapy improves sleep quality in patients with AD, alleviates psychobehavioural symptoms, and improves quality of life. This effect of aromatherapy is probably caused by regulating oxidative stress damage in the brain and inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors to delay the deterioration of AD. In fact, the method of stimulating the olfactory nerve through scent exposure is easy to implement because of its low invasiveness and is suitable not only for patients with AD, but also for caregivers [31]. Our research confirms the effectiveness of aromatherapy as a non-pharmacological intervention for the treatment of patients with AD, and its potential as a valuable option is worthy of widespread application at healthcare facilities, communities, and homes in the future.

https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-1392290/v1/f79b84f0-ba44-49fd-ace1-57fbb9eac13d.pdf?c=1652156064

This book on aromatherapy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease comes out at the end of June:

Alzheimer's, Aromatherapy, and the Sense of Smell: Essential Oils to Prevent Cognitive Loss and Restore Memory

• Cites multiple clinical studies to show how Alzheimer’s is critically bound with the sense of smell and how the loss of this sense is often the first symptom of onset

• Details how to use essential oils to stimulate memory, prevent cognitive loss, and counter the isolation, withdrawal, and depression of Alzheimer’s patients

• Reveals the striking results seen in several French hospitals and senior living homes where aromatherapy has been used as a therapy for Alzheimer’s

While there is still no known cure for Alzheimer’s, new research and trials from France reveal that it is possible to slow its progression, ameliorate some of its effects, and improve the quality of life for those suffering from this degenerative condition, using the sense of smell.

Citing years of clinical evidence, Jean-Pierre Willem, M.D., shows how Alzheimer’s is critically bound with the sense of smell. He explains how the olfactory system is connected to the limbic area of the brain, which holds the keys to memory and emotion and is the area of the brain most severely afflicted by Alzheimer’s. He reveals how one of the very first signs of Alzheimer’s is typically the loss of the sense of smell. Sharing the striking results seen in French hospitals and senior living homes where aromatherapy has been used as a therapy for Alzheimer’s for more than 10 years, Dr. Willem details how to use essential oils to stimulate memory, prevent cognitive loss, and counter the isolation, withdrawal, and depression these patients are likely to feel. He explains how essential oils make a direct connection with the cerebral structures involved in emotion and memory and make it possible for the patient to bring deeply buried memories back to the thinking surface. This allows the patient to recover a portion of their identity, which can become the foundation for additional healing, including regaining the ability to communicate and reducing behavioral issues. Tracing the evolutionary links between smell and taste, he also explores the effects of diet and nutrition on Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, explaining the benefits of raw foods, what foods to avoid, and what supplements can help.

Offering a hands-on and medication-free way to help those suffering from Alzheimer’s, this guide provides a way for Alzheimer’s patients and their families to recover the joy of living again.

Hopefully, this book will draw greater attention to the role aromatherapy can play in treating Alzheimer's disease.

Best of wishes to you and your husband.

jmlarue

As a caregiver, you'll find that lowering your expectations will become a necessary part of coping with the progression of dementia. The lack of motivation is often one of the earliest symptoms of dementia. Teepa Snow (in one of her videos) describes it as, "I CAN'T care." It's not that they don't want to care - they can't care. The frontotemporal part of the brain that controls motivation, planning and sequencing of tasks has been damaged. It's not coming back and no amount of encouragement or forcing unwanted activity on your DH is going to change that. You want to try aromatherapy? So long as your DH doesn't object to it or enjoys it, go for it. Will it cause him to forego his afternoon nap in order to paint a picture or play a game? Doubtful. In my own DH, I had to accept that he is no longer able to actively participate in doing an activity, but he does get pleasure out of passive participation - listening to music, listening to a story on an audiobook, or watching somebody on TV building a log cabin in Maine. I don't ask him to DO anything anymore. He can't care and I've had to lower my expectations to accommodate him.