| |
[From A Report on Alzheimer's Disease and Current Research by Dr. Jack Diamond, scientific director of the Alzheimer Society of Canada]
A Proposal: Caregiving Could Be Promoting Brain Repair
Nerve sprouting from surviving nerve cells is a key feature of
repair in the diseased or damaged nervous system. The new
sprouts make connections with other surviving nerve cells,
compensating for the connections lost when nerve cells died.
Nerve sprouting is induced by growth factors among which
NGF is very important. However, there is another way to
induce nerve sprouting; this is by initiating impulses (nerve
messages) in the nerve cells. Experimentally this driving, as
it's called, is done either by electrically stimulating the nerve
cells, or by increasing the sensory input, that is by providing
increased sensory stimulation such as light, touch, sound, and
so on. Now in the parts of the brain that control feeling and
thinking, the input that matters most is that from the social
environment – from people talking and touching or caressing,
physically and emotionally interacting with the individual.
This means that the more of this social stimulation a person
with Alzheimer's disease gets, the more likely it is that their
surviving brain cells will be induced to sprout and restore
lost connections. Not only that, but research is showing that
in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, environmental
enrichment, which is a form of increased social stimulation,
actually reduces the levels of A-beta and the amyloid deposits.
Also, in normal mice, environmental enrichment promoted
sprouting and increased connectivity between brain cells.
The caregiver, family member or anyone else involved
with the person with Alzheimer's disease has a critical role
here. We should never be put off by absence of immediate
response because nerve sprouting and the subsequent
making of connections with other nerve cells can take many
months. Now this proposal has obviously not been proven
experimentally in humans, but a lot of animal research would
support it, and anecdotal accounts from caregivers support it
too. The emotional benefits of maintaining contact between
people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers and
family members can only be guessed at, but the bottom
line is – keep trying to communicate, keep talking, and keep
on showing affection like holding and caressing (without
overdoing it of course, which could cause distress to both
sides). The thing to avoid at all costs is social isolation.
[The contents of this page are provided for information purposes only and do not represent advice, an endorsement or a recommendation, with respect to any product, service or enterprise, and/or the claims and properties thereof, by the Alzheimer Society of Canada. The information contained in this report was current at the time of printing, April 2008.]
|
