Music and Alzheimer’s Disease

For those patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, there might be very little that can ease their suffering. Brain cells are slowly killed off with this disease and cognitive functioning declines until it eventually ends up causing the patient to pass away. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s at the present moment, but there are ways to help alleviate this disease and even slow down its spread. Things like exercise and memory games can play a big role in helping out the Alzheimer’s patient.Music can also be quite helpful. There are a lot of memories that we connect to certain songs, and listening to music can help us to stimulate brain cells that might otherwise go unnoticed. When brain cells are exercised, new neuronal pathways are sometimes created and this enables Alzheimer’s patients to think around their disease. Think about it this way: if certain brain cells are killed off, the functions that they fulfill might be lost. But if alternate pathways are created for the same functions, you can operate at the same level even though some of your brain cells have been lost to dementia. This won’t work forever, but it can help delay the progress of the disease and enhance the patient’s quality of life for a brief while.When someone lives within an assisted living facility, the things that help with Alzheimer’s disease might become a lot more easily accessible. Group activities are a lot easier to fulfill in such a setting since patients live in a controlled setting and will have better access to help getting around their residence. Also, relationships are a lot easier to maintain in assisted living and there are many more opportunities to interact with peers. When a group of friends are interested in an activity and there are no barriers to access, it makes it a lot easier and more convenient to participate in those things.This is especially true during the holiday season. For instance, Christmas concerts held at the assisted living facility can be a great way to listen to traditional and inspirational songs and this might be a good way to relive past memories. Even little things like playing holiday music on the living room radio can serve the same purpose.Music is a great way to perk up people during the holiday season. Many people have favorite carols and songs that bring back a lot of old memories and this can do wonders for mental health. It’s been shown that classical music is intellectually stimulating, and this can be very beneficial to Alzheimer’s patients. Anything that makes you exercise your brain cells can help delay further symptoms of the disease, and music is one of the easiest ways to do this.