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P3–277: Stimulation of skin by ablution (ritual washing) prevents Alzheimer's in humans: An original study
Author(s) -
Ashraf Hashim,
Shaafi Shafi
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2013.05.1351
Subject(s) - alertness , psychology , medicine , gerontology , psychiatry
Background: Therapeutic use of water for relaxation of mind and stress reduction is known throughout history. Recent reports show that stimulation of skinmay induce neuro-physiological and biochemical changes in the brain. Therefore it is possible that controlled stimulations induced at skinmay result in the amelioration of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study we investigated the efficacy of Ablution in preventing AD. Ablution is an ancient ritual practice in which specific areas of the body namely, hands, mouth, nose, face, feet, neck and ears are repeatedly washed/stimulated with water in the prescribed order. Ablution is an obligatory life time practice performed by over a billion people at prescribed 5-times daily from dusk to dawn. Ablution requires alertness, sense of hygiene, selfdiscipline, memory, tolerance for repeated touch with water, determination to begin and end task. Some of these abilities are adversely affected in individuals withAD. This is an Indo-American project, sponsored byHuman Service International-USA, USA and Kannur Medical College Super specialty Hospital, IndiaMethods: Volunteers aged 50-8065 was randomly selected. Mini-Mental-State-Exam (MMSE) and Mini-cog was administered. Non AD demented volunteers eliminated from the study. Three groups were formed. Ablution-Group (AG: n1⁄46500, history of Ablution for 5 years before study); Non-Ablution-Group (NAG: n1⁄46800, no history of Ablution).NAGvolunteers with MMSE score lower than 5 were assigned to 3 years Ablution test (NAG-a n1⁄42900). MMSE andMini-cog scores and serum lipids data collected before, during (6-month intervals) and at the end of 3-years) Results: At baseline: AG scored 2861.0 on MMSE and 3.0 on Mini-cog with normal CDTwith normal serum lipids. No significant changes in AG data till the end of 3 years. In contrast, MMSE and Mini-cog scores of NAG did not improve and serum lipids increased with time. Interestingly, NAG-a group showed a steady improvement in MMSE (2461.0) and Mini-cog scores (3.060.2) and significant reduction (p<0.001) in serum lipids. Conclusions: Long term skin stimulation caused byAblution processmay improve cognitive abilities and prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Further investigations are needed to understand the mechanism by which ablution based skin stimulation prevents neuro-degeneration in AD.