Dementia patient makes 'amazing' progress after using infra-red helmet

suchandra · July 17, 2008

Although I personally believe that dementia is not a disease but the natural shut down of the human brain after misusing the human form of life, still it seems there's light at the end of the tunnel of this epidemically spreading phenomenon, also known as Alzheimer's.

Dementia patient makes 'amazing' progress after using infra-red helmet

By David Derbyshire

Last updated at 2:26 AM on 15th July 2008

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1034936/Dementia-patient-makes-amazing-progress-using-infrared-helmet.html?ITO=1490

Two months ago Clem Fennell was fading fast.

The victim of an aggressive type of dementia, the 57-year-old businessmen was unable to answer the phone, order a meal or string more than a couple of words together.

In desperation, his family agreed to try a revolutionary new treatment - a bizarre-looking, experimental helmet devised by a British GP that bathes the brain in infra-red light twice a day.

To their astonishment, Mr Fennel began to make an astonishing recovery in just three weeks.

Dr Gordon Dougal, a GP from County Durham, treated dementia patient Clem Fennell with his infra-red device

"My husband, Clem, was fading away. It is as if he is back" said his wife Vickey Fennell, 55. "His personality has started to show again. We are absolutely thrilled."

While the helmet has yet to be proven in clinical trials, the family say the effects of the 10 minute sessions are incredible. Mr Fennell can now hold conversations and go shopping unaccompanied.

The treatment is the brainchild of Dr Gordon Dougal, a County Durham GP. He believes the device could eventually help thousands of dementia patients.

"Potentially, this is hugely significant," said Dr Dougal, who is based in Easington, County Durham and is a director of Virulite, a medical research company.

Developed with Sunderland University, the helmet has 700 LED lights that penetrate the skull. They are thought to be the right wavelength to stimulate the growth of brain cells, slowing down the decline in memory and brain function and reversing symptoms of dementia.

Clem Fennell - the head of a family engineering firm in Cincinnati, Ohio - travelled to the UK after neurologists told him nothing could stop the decline of his dementia. The family's friends had seen a report about the helmet on CBS.

"Honestly I can tell you that within ten days, the deterioration was stopped, then we started to see improvements," said Mrs Fennell, from North Kentucky. "He started to respond to people more quickly when they talked to him."

Three weeks later, the father of two is still making gradual improvements.

His daughter, 22-year-old Maggie said: "When we go to the restaurant we usually have to order his meals for him, now he can order for himself."

"Now we are okay about letting him go to the bank or the post office but he would not have been able to do that three weeks ago.

Mr Fennell could hardly string two words together. But since using the infra-red helmet, he can hold a conversation.

"Dr Dougal has been a godsend to our family. There was nothing anyone could do to help Clem until now."

It is too soon to say whether Dr Dougal's invention could help other sufferers. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and dementia can vary from day to day - and relapses are not unusual. And not all patients may benefit from the treatment.

Dr Dougal stressed that a full, clinically controlled trial would be needed before his anti-dementia helmet could be licensed for public use. A trial of 100 patients is expected to start later this year.

"I made it clear to the Fennells that I didn't know for a fact whether it would work or not, but the results are good," said Dr Dougal.

"He was monosyllabic when I first saw him, but if I ring up now he will answer the phone. He didn't have the verbal skills to do that three weeks ago."

The Fennells have been told they can take the prototype helmet back to the US with them so they can continue the treatment at home.

Commercial versions of the helmet will include 700 LEDs and cost around £10,000.

The Alzheimer’s Society said: "’A treatment that reverses the effects of dementia rather than just temporarily halting its symptoms could change the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who live with this devastating condition.

‘Non-thermal near infra-red treatment for people with dementia is a potentially interesting technique. We look forward to further research to determine whether it could help improve cognition in humans. Only then can we begin to investigate whether near infra-red could benefit people with dementia.’

One in three people will end their lives with a form of dementia. Around 700,000 suffer from dementia - with more than half having Alzheimer's disease.

suchandra · July 20, 2008

Interesting extrapolation of article above at ISKCON News. "The part of the brain responsible for memory shrinks twice as much in elderly people who have had a limited education", what says, never stop to study spiritual knowledge.

World News

Exercise in Fighting Dementia

http://news.iskcon.com/node/1143/2008-07-19/exercise_fighting_dementia

By Kate Benson for The Sydney Morning Herald on 19 Jul 2008

The part of the brain responsible for memory shrinks twice as much in elderly people who have had a limited education, stunted social life or have not kept mentally active since they were teens, a Sydney study has found.

University of NSW researchers followed a group of 60-year-olds over three years and found that those who had been mentally and physically active continually since the age of 13 had a larger hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls short-term memory and navigation skills.

A small or atrophied hippocampus is a risk factor for Alzheimer's and mental activity has been found to delay the onset of degenerative brain diseases, such as Huntington's and Parkinson's.

The author of the report, Michael Valenzuela, from the university's school of psychiatry, said researchers had for the first time compared brains, using magnetic resonance imaging, over many years in relation to mental activity patterns, adding weight to previous work that showed that complex mental activity helped prevent dementia.

"It also helps throw some light on why there has been this consistent link between mental activity and lower dementia risk," Dr Valenzuela said.

But he said the study, published in the Public Library of Science ONE journal, found that the size of the hippocampus was not directly related to intelligence.

"We didn't find that a person's IQ made much of a difference. Among the people who had the bigger hippocampi, it came down to them having a real diversity of interests," he said. "Some had gone back to university in their 60s and 70s and others just had a variety of interesting hobbies and socialise quite a lot."

While many drug companies were searching for ways to prevent the hippocampus shrinking, people could help themselves.

"It is vital that everyone is involved in cognitive, social and physical activities in later life such as dancing, tai chi, sailing, travelling and learning a new language, for example."

RadheyRadhey108 · July 21, 2008

Although I personally believe that dementia is not a disease but the natural shut down of the human brain after misusing the human form of life, still it seems there's light at the end of the tunnel of this epidemically spreading phenomenon, also known as Alzheimer's.

Dementia most certainly is a disease. It is the precursor to Alzheimer's which is the physical destruction of the brain (neurons get tangled up with brain-cells, the part of the brain they get tangled up with die, and that part of the brain can no longer be used). It's a real disease, it's not just forgetfulness. It's the slow and gradual destruction of the brain's tissue.

I think you need to learn more about what the causes are and what it does before you decide that it's just some 'natural process caused by a misuse of human existence', and not an organic mental disease.

suchandra · July 21, 2008

I think you need to learn more about what the causes are and what it does before you decide that it's just some 'natural process caused by a misuse of human existence', and not an organic mental disease.

I googled on "definition of Alzheimer's" and when it comes to what the karmis say, you're right. The karmis seem to say the same thing what you say. What astonishes the karmis is however, why those parts of the brain who keep the bodily functions running are not affected. People live for years with loss of memory but the bodily functions are perfectly kept functioning by the brain.

Definition: A progressive, degenerative disease of the brain that leads to dementia. Many think that Alzheimer's disease and dementia are the same thing, but Alzheimer's is actually the most common cause of dementia. While everyone who has Alzheimer's develops dementia, not everyone who develops dementia has Alzheimer's disease.

source: http://alzheimers.about.com/od/glossary/g/Alzheimers.htm

RadheyRadhey108 · July 21, 2008

I googled on "definition of Alzheimer's" and when it comes to what the karmis say, you're right. The karmis seem to say the same thing what you say. What astonishes the karmis is however, why those parts of the brain who keep the bodily functions running are not affected. People live for years with loss of memory but the bodily functions are perfectly kept functioning by the brain.

Definition: A progressive, degenerative disease of the brain that leads to dementia. Many think that Alzheimer's disease and dementia are the same thing, but Alzheimer's is actually the most common cause of dementia. While everyone who has Alzheimer's develops dementia, not everyone who develops dementia has Alzheimer's disease.

source: http://alzheimers.about.com/od/glossary/g/Alzheimers.htm

It certainly does affect bodily functions! One of the first things Alzheimer's usually affects is the urinary tract and the bowels. People with Alzheimer's often lose all control of their urinary tract and bowels because the part of the brain that controls that is (for some reason) usually one of the first parts affected. Later, short-term memory is affected, which leads to confusion. Over time (which can be anywhere from a few months to several years), they start losing even long-term memory and basic reasoning skills. If Alzheimer's is able to progress in it's fullness, it is fatal (organs start shutting down as the parts of the brain that control them die).

suchandra · July 22, 2008

It certainly does affect bodily functions! One of the first things Alzheimer's usually affects is the urinary tract and the bowels. People with Alzheimer's often lose all control of their urinary tract and bowels because the part of the brain that controls that is (for some reason) usually one of the first parts affected. Later, short-term memory is affected, which leads to confusion. Over time (which can be anywhere from a few months to several years), they start losing even long-term memory and basic reasoning skills. If Alzheimer's is able to progress in it's fullness, it is fatal (organs start shutting down as the parts of the brain that control them die).

Thats what basically modern medical science also is saying, we have the details, we know what we are talking about. When looking at the statistics it suddenly says, the number of 26 Mio. Alzheimer’s patients today (USA alone 5 Mio) will dramatically quadruple within the next 40 years to over 105 Mio sufferers worldwide. Alzheimer’s has more new cases every year as conditions such as Stroke, Diabetes or breast cancer. (source: http://www.tcd.ie/Communications/pressRelease.php?headerID=871&pressReleaseArchive=0)