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How do lemon balm, rosemary, lavender and other aromas affect people with dementia? Studies show surprising benefits - they may beat out drugs for controlling many of the symptoms of even severe dementia. See the facts put together by authoritative NutritionFacts.org .
Improving cognitive performance with aromatherapy in young healthy volunteers is one thing, but how about where it really matters?
This group of Japanese researchers had this pie-in-the-sky notion that maybe certain smells could lead to “nerve rebirth” in Alzheimer’s patients. Twenty years ago, to even raise such a possibility as a hypothetical was heretical! Everybody knew that the loss of neurons is “irreversible.” In other words, “dead [nerve cells] are not replaced”—an important factor in neurodegenerative diseases. That’s what I was taught; that’s what everyone was taught, until 1998.
Patients with advanced cancer volunteered to be injected with a special dye that’s incorporated into the DNA of new cells. On autopsy, the researchers then went hunting for nerve cells in the brains that lit up. And, there they were, new nerve cells in the brain that didn’t exist just days or months before, demonstrating “that cell genesis occurs in human brains and [that] the human brain retains the potential for self-renewal throughout life.” Something we can take comfort in.
Still doesn’t mean smells can help, but an aromatherapy regimen of rosemary, lemon, lavender, and orange was attempted for a month. Here’s the trajectory of their ability to form abstract ideas, and their cognitive function starting six weeks before the treatment, showing a rather steady decline until they reversed after the aromatherapy. The researchers conclude that aromatherapy may be efficacious and “have some potential for improving cognitive function”—all, of course, without any apparent side effects.
What about severe dementia? We always hear about the cognitive deficits, but “more than [half] of patients with dementia experience behavioral or psychiatric symptoms.” Thorazine-type antipsychotic drugs are often prescribed, even though they appear to be particularly dangerous in the elderly. But hey, it’s easier to just prescribe a drug than offer “nonpharmacological alternatives,” such as aromatherapy—rubbing a lemon balm-infused lotion on their arms and face twice daily, compared to a lotion without the scent. Everybody got rubbed, but in the lemon balm group, “significant improvements…in…agitation…,…(shouting, screaming), and physical aggression.” And improved quality-of-life indicators—less socially withdrawn, more engagement in constructive activities. That’s important, because when you give the antipsychotics, patients become more withdrawn, less engaged; it’s like a chemical restraint. Yeah, the drugs can reduce agitation too, but that may just be because you’re effectively knocking the person out.
So, “aromatherapy with [lemon] balm…is safe, well tolerated,…highly efficacious, with additional benefits on key quality of life parameters. These findings clearly indicate the need for longer-term multicenter trials.” But we never had any, until—never. We still don’t have any. This study was back in 2002 and still nothing, but is that a surprise? Who’s going to fund such a study? Big Balm?
SOURCE:
Patients with advanced cancer volunteered to be injected with a special dye that’s incorporated into the DNA of new cells. On autopsy, the researchers then went hunting for nerve cells in the brains that lit up. And, there they were, new nerve cells in the brain that didn’t exist just days or months before, demonstrating “that cell genesis occurs in human brains and [that] the human brain retains the potential for self-renewal throughout life.” Something we can take comfort in.
Still doesn’t mean smells can help, but an aromatherapy regimen of rosemary, lemon, lavender, and orange was attempted for a month. Here’s the trajectory of their ability to form abstract ideas, and their cognitive function starting six weeks before the treatment, showing a rather steady decline until they reversed after the aromatherapy. The researchers conclude that aromatherapy may be efficacious and “have some potential for improving cognitive function”—all, of course, without any apparent side effects.
What about severe dementia? We always hear about the cognitive deficits, but “more than [half] of patients with dementia experience behavioral or psychiatric symptoms.” Thorazine-type antipsychotic drugs are often prescribed, even though they appear to be particularly dangerous in the elderly. But hey, it’s easier to just prescribe a drug than offer “nonpharmacological alternatives,” such as aromatherapy—rubbing a lemon balm-infused lotion on their arms and face twice daily, compared to a lotion without the scent. Everybody got rubbed, but in the lemon balm group, “significant improvements…in…agitation…,…(shouting, screaming), and physical aggression.” And improved quality-of-life indicators—less socially withdrawn, more engagement in constructive activities. That’s important, because when you give the antipsychotics, patients become more withdrawn, less engaged; it’s like a chemical restraint. Yeah, the drugs can reduce agitation too, but that may just be because you’re effectively knocking the person out.
So, “aromatherapy with [lemon] balm…is safe, well tolerated,…highly efficacious, with additional benefits on key quality of life parameters. These findings clearly indicate the need for longer-term multicenter trials.” But we never had any, until—never. We still don’t have any. This study was back in 2002 and still nothing, but is that a surprise? Who’s going to fund such a study? Big Balm?
SOURCE:
1) In the article published online in October 16,2013 , in the prestigeous medical journal called Neurology , that is the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology , with the title “Pulse wave velocity is associated with β- amyloid deposition in the brains of very elderly adults” - authors Timothy M. Hughes, PhD, Steven T. DeKosky, MD and colleagues , studied a cohort of 91 DEMENTIA-FREE participants aged 83–96 years.In 2009, participants completed brain MRI and PET imaging using Pittsburgh compound B (PiB).
In October 17 , 2013 , one of the the authors of the article , M.Hughes,PhD , in an interview in the site Medpage Today , declared :"When we began looking at the brains of (COGNITIVELY NORMAL) older adults we saw a lot MORE AMYLOID than we expected to see," Hughes continued to MedPage Today "That led to the REALIZATION that the ACCUMULATION of amyloid in the brain may be COMMON IN AGING, and NOT as tied to Alzheimer's disease as we have thought."
2) In another article published online in April 17,2013 inthe american medical journal called Annals of Neurology , that is the official journal of the American Neurological Association , with the title “In vivo assessment of amyloid-β deposition in nondemented very elderly subjects.” the authors wrote :
"Made a study that analysed the betamyloid deposition in one hundred ninety NONDEMENTED subjects aged ≥82 years old , to determine the proportion of Aβ-positive scans” they found that
“ A high proportion of the cognitively normal subjects , fifty one percent (51%) were PiB-positive.
"And the authors wrote too that : “The data revealed a 55% prevalence of PiB positivity in NONDEMENTED subjects age >80 years”.
Amyloid tracers as florbetapir can leads 55% of patients that do it test , to be misdiagnosed as having AD, WHILE THEY ARE HEALTHY PATIENTS, that only have the betamyloid accumulation that is age-related but that do NOT cause dementias.
As is well know , the definition of a scientific premise is :
"A statement that an argument claims will induce or justify a conclusion ."
Or in other words :
A scientific premise is an assumption that something is true”.
But the definition of a scientific sophism is :
" When a so called “premise” can NOT be supported by solids scientifics foundations or proofs , then that is considered a "false premise” , so called a sophism ( a fallacious argumentation – or a False premise).
We can use the definition of a scientific premise pasted above to "open our minds" , to see that based in the scientific articles that I pasted parts of the texts before , and using the logical reasoning we can see that betamyloid accumulation it is NOT the cause of AD , and it is NOT the main culprit of AD symtpons .
Then to use amyloid tracers as a reference to try to do a diagnosis , or to treat based in the false premise of the amyloid hupothesis ,is an absolute and very expensive nonsense.
Regarding your argument that F18 tests are nonsense, please be a little more humble. Give the massive number of researchers and doctors using F18 tests a little more credit.
F18 is NOT used to test for plaque to prove that a person HAS Alzheimer's. It tests for plaque because if there is very little plaque, then a doctor can be confident that a person's dementia is NOT CAUSED by Alzheimer's.
Your entire argument is based on the fact that a person may have plaque and may not have Alzheimer's. While that may be true, it has nothing to do with what F18 tests do. In the video above, the person thought he had Alzheimer's. Thanks to the F18 test, he is relieved to know he does not and can now look for better therapy & treatment. (167 WORDS :) )
But to proof the point that amyloid tracers do not makes sense to the majority of dementia patients with AD , only putting all the information above, to the readers have the chance to do theirs own research based in the articles above, and to readers use theirs own logic to think about it.
Thank you very much
Carlos (in sixty four words)