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P3‐382: THE EFFECT OF COGNITIVE STIMULATION ON NURSING HOME ELDERS
Author(s) -
Gil Isabel,
Alves Apostolo Joao Luis,
Cardoso Daniela,
Almeida Maria,
Cordeiro Maria,
Barata Alberto,
Duarte Susana
Publication year - 2014
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.2014.05.1476
Subject(s) - dementia , geriatric depression scale , cognition , prodrome , depression (economics) , medicine , cognitive decline , gerontology , depressive symptoms , clinical psychology , psychology , psychiatry , disease , psychosis , economics , macroeconomics
memory function, and mental health, telomerase, a marker of cellular health, and low in Alzheimer’s was measured. Results: Compared to controls, the meditation group had significant increases in baseline CBF in important brain areas related to AD and enhanced scores on memory tests. They also had improvement in mood and anxiety.Compared to controls, participants demonstrated improvement in all major outcomes including perceived stress, mood, depression, sleep, blood pressure and memory. Compared to placebo group, the meditation group had higher MMSE’s, less depression, higher levels of well being, and an increase of 43% in telomerase, the largest increase ever recorded, and a decrease in inflammatory markers. MRI revealed marked brain activation in significant areas related to AD. Conclusions: As chronic stress has been revealed in numerous studies to be associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s, perhaps it is now time to include stress management through Kirtan Kriya, a simple12 minute yoga meditation in the conversation on Alzheimer’s prevention and therapy. This review revealed an improvement in multiple risk factors for AD. Any delay in memory loss progression or in the prevention of Alzheimer’s is meaningful and critically important.