How electrical therapy could help Alzheimer's patients treat memory loss and mood
Dementia and depression often go hand-in-hand in patients with Alzheimer's disease, but many don't respond well to traditional antidepressants. Now, an experimental home-based electrical therapy may be able to treat both memory loss and mood.
Researchers at Harvard-affiliated Hebrew SeniorLife say antidepressants don't work well in older adults, so they're studying the effects of transcranial electrical stimulation in patients with Alzheimer's.
"It is not the same as shock therapy," explained Dr. Davide Cappon, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist at Hebrew SeniorLife. "It is delivering electricity to the brain, but in a way more controlled manner that is targeting only specific regions of the brain."
Dealing with dementia and depression
Julie Whelan, of West Roxbury, loved being a medical librarian at Harvard University, but the 76-year-old had to retire when her mind started to slip.
"It wasn't just, oops, a mistake. It was something more," she said.
That "something more" was Alzheimer's disease, and, like many patients, Whelan started to feel depressed.
"I have a wonderful husband here that helps me, but he's got his own things he has to do, and I feel lonely," she said. "And I can't see my grandchildren because I can't drive."
Electrical stimulation therapy
As part of a clinical trial, Whelan did five treatments a week for a month. Each session takes about 22 minutes, and the patient needs to stay silent and still during that time.
A caregiver attaches multiple electrodes to a soft bonnet that is secured to the patient's head. A gel is applied to the scalp, and leads are attached to each electrode. Then, the patient walks through the steps systemically using an iPad.
Whelan said it's not painful, but more of a tingling sensation. While's she's not sure if the treatments helped, her husband says he noticed a difference.
"She stopped reading, basically, for about a year, and she's back reading now more books than I am," husband, Gerry Whelan, said.
"We are seeing preliminary signs of improvement in depression," said Dr. Cappon. "And in parallel, we are seeing also some preliminary evidence of memory symptoms improvement."
As for Whelan's future, she says she hopes to "be able to find a way to deal with this that lets me still be happy with my family."
Researchers are still recruiting patients who are 65 and older with a diagnosis of major depression and mild-stage Alzheimer's disease. To find out more, email the researchers directly.
